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A video of the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, cycling towards the venue where a climate summit took place on the 10th of July has gone viral in Spain and beyond. It is being shared along with claims that she flew to the host city of Valladolid with a government-owned Falcon jet. This is not true as although such a jet did fly to Valladolid that same morning, Ribera had already been seen in the city before it landed.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition has told Maldita.es that Teresa Ribera took the car to get to the Northern city, where an “informal ministerial meeting” with other European representatives regarding the environment and energy took place. At Maldita.es, we have not been able to independently verify that the trip was made by car.
The Ministry for Ecological Transition published a photo of Teresa Ribera in Valladolid before the Falcon landed in the city
The shared content includes a screenshot from the website 'falcondespega.es', showing a flight between Torrejón de Ardoz, a town in the Community of Madrid, and Medina de Rioseco (Valladolid), landing at 10:57 in the morning on July 10th.
Ribera was already in the city by then, as seen in a photo posted by her ministry at 10:37 a.m. The image shows the minister riding a “BIKI” bike, Valladolid’s public bike-sharing service.
Minister Teresa Ribera got to Valladolid by car, according to her press office
Initially, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge told Maldita.es that Ribera, who is also a Vice President for the Spanish Government, had gone to Valladolid by train. They later clarified that she had actually gone by car whilst the rest of the delegation did use the train.
The ministry also publicly denied on Twitter that Teresa Ribera had travelled by plane to the meeting in Valladolid.
At Maldita.es, we have not been able to independently verify Ribera's mode of transport on July 9th, but we have confirmed that Ribera was already in Valladolid when the Falcon, which it is claimed she was travelling on to the city, landed.
The account that posted the false claim has deleted the tweet
A few hours after his viral tweet was posted, one of the social media accounts that had claimed that Teresa Ribera had travelled to Valladolid on a Falcon jet admitted that the aircraft “was not used by the minister”.
Maldita.es has asked the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge for further details regarding the Falcon jet that did fly to Valladolid on the 10th of July, but no response has yet been received.
