According to the US State Department, El Salvador is safer than Spain, France, the UK, and several other European countries. The department’s Travel Advisories page upgraded El Salvador to Level 1, the lowest a country can receive.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio credited El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele as “crucial in improving his country’s security for foreign travelers. Gang activity, violent crime, and murders in El Salvador have significantly dropped.”
Conversely, the US State Department labelled Spain as a Level 2 country, which means the US government recommends extreme caution in this European country.
“Exercise increased caution in Spain due to terrorism and civil unrest,” the State Department’s advisory warns.
“Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Spain. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targetting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas,” it adds.
In contrast, the State Department recommends only “normal precautions” when travelling in El Salvador, whose President Nayib Bukele is scheduled to visit the White House next week.
The travel advisory level rise also follows White House confirmation that US President Donald Trump is exploring sending US citizens convicted of heinous crimes to El Salvador’s controversial prisons.
Bukele, whose country already houses hundreds of illegal US immigrant deportees, has offered to receive prisoners from the United States of all nationalities.
The US travel advisory also labels France Level 2 because of “terrorism and civil unrest. ” The UK is also Level 2, noting only terrorism as a concern.
Two weeks ago, the UK, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, and Norway warned against travelling to the United States, saying several tourists had been “violently detained” by immigration officials who mistook them for illegal immigrants. They noted the risk of deportation is present.
Last year, Spanish EU Parliamentary Member Alvise Perez said: “Now, in El Salvador one can feel safer than in Barcelona.”
