Fiona Govan
THE rules concerning the arrival of vaccinated tourists to Spain from anywhere in the world should hopefully be cleared up this weekend when the government publishes details in the Official State Gazette (BOE).
Over the last few weeks there have been lots of travel news updates from Spain’s government figures but few clear guidelines, leaving many travellers confused and not sure whether they can or can’t plan a trip.
On May 21, during the Fitur tourism fair, Spain’s Prime Minister announced that from June 7, Spain would be ready to welcome all vaccinated tourists from any country as long as had been fully vaccinated.
“From June 7th, all vaccinated people and their families will be welcome in our country, Spain, regardless of their country of origin,” Sánchez said at an international tourism fair in Madrid on May 21st.
But no details as to how this would be put in place and what proof would be required were forthcoming and just days later the Spanish government extended a ban on all non-essential travel from outside the EU without mention of vaccination exemptions.
The extension of the ban on travellers from outside the EU except those from white listed countries including the UK, Australia and New Zealand, is set to last until June 30 and was published in Spain’s BOE on May 29.
Under these rules “only Spanish citizens, foreign citizens with valid residence in Spain and citizens of European Union countries can enter the Spanish territory”. No mention is made of exceptions for those who have been vaccinated.
But that may be about to change.
Spanish media have reported that the government is ready to publish an update in a separate BOE notice on Saturday that will outline the new rules for entry.
Foreign ministry sources cited by El Pais leaked that the bulletin will outline new conditions for entry into Spain that will allow entry to those who can show they have been fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arrival.
It will also detail which vaccines will be accepted and is likely to include not only those approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and World Health Organization – Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen – but also the Chinese vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac-Coronavac.
Spain has also announced it will be involved in a trial of the EU approved ‘vaccine passport’ from June 7, although details for that have also yet to be published.
Travellers from the UK are already exempt from any restrictions including the need for a negative PCR and have been arriving since May 24.
Spain, however, remains on the UK’s ‘amber list’ of travel destinations and those returning from any Spanish destination will have to undergo mandatory quarantine.
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