Spain Set To Welcome Back Unvaccinated British Tourists In 'A Matter Of Days'
Spain News
Published: 20 May 2022 16:19 CET
Updated: 23 May 2022 16:19 CET
Update: Changes to the entry requirements for unvaccinated travellers from outside of the EU have now been approved as of 21/5/2022.
Visitors will now be able to show a certificate of vaccination, recovery or negative diagnosis at entry controls, bringing tourists from non-EU countries into line with the same conditions required of citizens of the European Union and associated Schengen countries.
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On May 19, Spain’s Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto, announced that "in a matter of days" unvaccinated third-country nationals including British travellers, will be allowed to holiday in Spain by providing only a negative Covid-19 test.
Since the start of the pandemic two years ago, Spain has not allowed unvaccinated non-EU tourists to enter the country with only exceptional reasons for travel allowed.
This news is quite unexpected, as on May 12 the Spanish health authorities announced that the ban on non-vaccinated, non-EU tourists would remain in place until at least June 15.
However, yesterday speaking to Spanish radio station Onda Cero, the Minister confirmed that it won’t be much longer before unvaccinated non-EU/Schengen nationals will be welcomed back to Spain for all non-essential reasons. This includes as a tourist, spending time in a second home in Spain or visiting family and friends.
She said “It’s a matter of days before we eliminate a restriction that could be discouraging tourists from outside the European Union from visiting us.
“And that is that we are going to stop requiring the vaccination certificate and allow them to enter with a negative test”.
"The world sees us as a safe destination and 92 per cent of the Spanish population is vaccinated.
She then explained that it would have to be a PDIA test, so either a PCR or an antigen test.
A negative PCR test or a similar NAAT-type test, must have been taken less than 72 hours before arriving in Spain.
A negative antigen test must be taken less than 24 hours prior to arriving in Spain.
Many brits have longed to hear this news as Spain is an extremely popular holiday destination for families and friends alike.
In March alone 826,000 UK visitors travelled to Spain, this means that the total number who visited the country in the first three months of this year is a staggering 1.76 million.
During the interview, Reyes was asked when all of Spain’s Covid-19 travel restrictions will be lifted, as currently there are still other measures in place. Measures such as wearing a face mask on public transport (including planes) and proof of vaccination, testing or recovery.
“There’s a degree of safety with travel that we have to preserve. We’re still co-existing with the pandemic but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been gradually lifting restrictions,” Maroto insisted.
She also spoke about how allowing unvaccinated non-EU holidaymakers in sooner, is another way of giving a boost to the country’s tourism industry which is slowly recovering from the effects of the pandemic.
"Tourism is recovering here at rates that would have been difficult to imagine in January.
Today that recovery is a reality. Tourism is the lever for economic growth this year," she explained.
At this moment in time, Spain’s Covid-19 travel restrictions mean that only those travelling from the non-EU/Schengen areas, who are fully vaccinated and have a booster vaccine, if their initial vaccine was more than nine months before travelling, can enter the country. As well as those who can prove they have recovered from the virus in the past six months.
EU/Schengen countries such as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland have already removed their Covid-19 travel restrictions.
As have France and Italy, who for more than a month now have allowed third-country travellers to enter their countries, by providing proof of a negative Covid-19 test.
Maroto told the interviewer that her ministry is putting the finishing touches to the travel legislation and it will be approved in the coming days.
However, it is advised that before booking or planning any trip, you should always check with the Foreign Office first, as all travel rules can change quickly due to the nature of the pandemic.
Source
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10836461/Spain-allow-unvaccinated-Brits-enter-days-require-negative-Covid-test.html
https://www.thelocal.es/20220519/spain-to-allow-unvaccinated-non-eu-tourists-to
