"We're so relieved to have got out of Ukraine with our children"

They are safe, and that was all that mattered. Last night 47 women and children arrived in Malaga on a bus from Poland, and their faces showed the combination of emotions they were experiencing: relief, despite being exhausted, at knowing that the bombs were now over 4,000 kilometres away; sadness for their husbands, parents, siblings and friends who are still there.

This was the bus chartered by Vicente Jiménez, a Malaga man who feels a special link with Ukraine because his son was born there. The only time the bus stopped was on Sunday night in Avignon, France, so the children could sleep in a hostel, for a few hours at least. This journey seemed never-ending to them.

They got back on the bus at 6am on Monday and finally reached their destination at 11.15 at night. “We’re so glad to be here, to have got out of Ukraine and for our children to be safe,” said Galina. She came to the province 16 years ago (she spent 15 years in Malaga and then moved to Marbella) but her nine-year-old daughter was living in Ukraine, so she went to fetch her. She found Ukraine very different to the country she remembered. She only spent a day there, but she said nothing is how it used to be. She and the other women on the bus hope that one day they will be able to go back and pick up the lives they led before this nightmare began, but for the moment they just need to adapt to the change and keep calm, for their children’s sake.

Of the 47 people who arrived on the bus, 21 are being accommodated by the Spanish Refugee Aid Committee (CEAR). The others have moved in with friends and family who live in the province, in theory until the situation in Ukraine changes.

Very few words were exchanged between these reunited families. The incomprehension and pain they feel about what is happening in Ukraine, and the joy of reaching safety, could only be communicated through hugs and tears, and those said it all.