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UPDATE: Which travellers must show negative Covid-19 test on arrival in Spain?

Spain has brought in new rules requiring travellers arriving in Spain by air or sea from countries deemed high risk to prove they have tested negative, here's a look at the rules and who they apply to.

Published: 12 November 2020 12:35 CET
Updated: 9 December 2020 12:59 CET
UPDATE: Which travellers must show negative Covid-19 test on arrival in Spain?
Photos: AFP

UPDATE: The Spanish Health Ministry has changed requirements for compulsory testing for arrivals by sea and air and from December 10th will accept a negative TMA test as well as a PCR. READ MORE HERE

Spain has updated the countries from which travellers need to show a negative PCR test before arriving by air or sea.

The new list will be in force from December 14th to December 27th, and includes slight changes compared to the previous one, which is in operation until December 13th.

The main difference is the fact that travelling from a number of regions in Finland will from next Monday require a negative PCR, as well as the whole of Greece, Aruba and Jersey (UK).

Meanwhile, traveling from Nordjylland (Denmark), Guadalupe (France), Kuwait and Monaco will no longer require showing a negative PCR.

Details of the new rules were published in Spain’s Official State Gazette (BOE) and come into force on November 23rd.

On November 30th, the list of those countries from which travellers were required to show a PCR test to enter Spain was updated to remove Iceland and Ireland and add parts of Norway, Greece, and the Azores Islands that were previously exempt, to the list.

Outside of the EU and EEA, Aruba, Bahrain, Libya, Tunisia are no longer on the list, while Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Curaçao and Iran have been added.

Spain doesn’t have a blanket testing requirement for all travellers but requires those flying in from high risk countries to provide a test before they will be allowed to fly.

The threshold that determines whether a country falls into the “high risk” category is based on EU guidelines and is so low that it effectively includes all the countries within the EU and many outside too.

READ ALSO:

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), an agency of the European Union, operates a traffic light system and Spain will insist all of those flying in from countries classified as red zones will need to show a negative PCR test.

The ECDC currently classifies as high risk, those countries with anaccumulated incidence rate of more than 150 cases per 100,000 people over the past 14 days.

It also states that those with a rate of 50 cases per 100,000 combined with over 4 percent of all tests giving positive results, will also be categorised as high risk.

 

All the areas marked in red on the map above fall into Spain's high risk category and travellers flying from there will require PCR tests.

So far this affects most travellers from more than 65 countries which includes most of the EU, EEA plus Switzerland and the UK.

The only European exemptions are those who have travelled from Ireland and Iceland and certain regions of Greece, Finland and Norway although from the 14th December travellers from any part of Greece will be required to take the test and only those from the exempt regions of Finland and Norway will change.

Travellers from Greenland, the Faroe Islands and are also exempt.

Tests will also be required from the following list of countries:

Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde. Colombia. Costa Rica, Curaçao, United Arab Emirates, USA, Russia, Georgia, Gibraltar, Guam, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macedonia, Morroco, Moldova, Mónaco, Montenegro, Palestine, Panamá, French Polynesia, Puerto Rico, San Marino, San Martín, Serbia and Ukraine.

For the full updated list on Spain's Foreign Office website CHECK HERE

This only applies to travellers whose destination is Spain and not those on transit through Spain in order to reach another country.

They will be required to provide a negative result on a diagnostic test of active infection (PCR) taken within 72 hours prior to arrival in Spain.

The test results must be written in either Spanish or English and be presented either in electronic version or original paper format and must contain the following information:

Traveller's name, passport number or ID number (which must match the document used to travel and the health control form), date of the test, identification and contact details of the centre where test was carried out, the kind of test conducted and proof of a negative test result. MORE INFO HERE

The order also states that it is the responsibility of the airline or shipping company to ensure that the test meets the criteria before allowing check in but it does add that those arriving in Spain without the correct test and negative result will have to undergo one at a medical centre on arrival.

Those arriving by air or sea will also be subject to a basic medical check in the form of having their temperature taken and will be asked to fill in a health form

If the travellers temperature registers above 37.5C or there are other symptoms suggesting they could have Covid-19 then they will be subject to protocol established by the regional health authority in which they have arrived.

The new rules come into force on November 23rd across all of Spain but in the Canary Islands people arriving on the islands from anywhere including mainland Spain must also abide by the regional government rules and provide a negative test result on check-in.

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Member comments

  1. Most of us would agree with the principle of
    pre-entry testing BUT the problem is logistics.
    Testing agencies in UK state that test results
    within 72-hours of departure cannot be guaranteed due to postal and lab times.

    What can the airlines do to assist travellers?
    Will they deny boarding to the “undocumented”?
    Is test and quarantine on arrival an alternative?

    How can Spanish authorities assist travellers to
    navigate this logistical puzzle?

    I am booked to arrive on 15th December but fearful
    that I may not be able to comply with the rules in
    view of the overly tight timescale. I need to be
    in Spain to undertake a legal duty but “elective” travellers may opt for a “staycation” which would
    mitigate against revival of Spanish tourism and
    the potential economic benefits of such revival.

    There must be a way to protect public health AND
    provide a logistical route capable of compliance
    easily by typical tourists.

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HEALTH

Respiratory infections soar in Spain over Christmas as hospitals struggle

Cases of viral respiratory infections such as flu, Covid and bronchitis have shot up over the past few weeks in Spain, putting an enormous strain on hospitals across the country and causing a severe lack of beds.

Published: 4 January 2024 12:33 CET
Respiratory infections soar in Spain over Christmas as hospitals struggle

Winter colds and flu are common, but this year Spain has seen a spike in cases of three different viruses – flu, Covid and bronchitis at the same time.

This comes after the festive and New Year period with lots of family gatherings and meetings with friends without much thought for social distancing days of the pandemic.

Rise in cases

According to health services, there are 35 percent more cases of these infections than a year ago, a percentage that is expected to continue rising until the third week of January when the epidemic peak will be reached after more gatherings for Three Kings’ Day on January 5th and 6th.

In a period of seven days, the rates of flu have gone from 532 to 908 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The cases of Covid have also grown from 12.6 percent to 13.6 percent.

The Health Minister, Monica García has published a message on social media reminding the public of the importance of getting vaccinated and maintaining prevention measures, such as ventilating rooms, washing hands and wearing a mask.

The head of the Emergency Department at the Reina Sofía University Hospital in Murcia, explained that the profile of these patients ranges “from young people with flu pathologies who go to the emergency room because health centres have delayed their appointments and people over 80 years old with pneumonia due to the flu who end up being admitted”.

Lack of hospital beds

According to the first vice president of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES), Pascual Piñera, 10 of patients with these infections end up admitted to hospital overnight and one of the biggest problems staff are facing is the severe lack of beds, “They have nowhere to put the sick”, he explained.

The situation is the same all over the country. Red Workers union of the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid has reported that there are 105 patients pending admission and beds in the hallways are in double rows, “which cannot be evacuated if the patient worsens or there is a fire”.

Delays in primary health care 

Acute respiratory infections not only put a strain on hospitals and emergency rooms, but also primary care centres, causing delays and long waiting times for appointments. 

The spokesperson for the Federation of Associations for the Defence of Public Health (FADSP), Marciano Sánchez Bayle, explains that it is generating a “major traffic jam” in the healthcare system “where appointments are made for very late dates”.

Sánchez Bayle cites the case of the Community of Madrid, where he knows that appointments requested in December were not given until the end of January “which further clogs an already saturated system”. 

The need for greater vaccination rates 

Besides the festive period, many health professionals believe that the situation could be improved if more people were getting vaccinated, specifically against the flu. 

Flu vaccination in Spain is far below the WHO recommendations, hovering around 50 percent of the population at risk, when the goal is 75 percent. And the percentage is even lower in the case of children under five.

According to the Ministry of Health, the objectives for vaccination against flu and Covid-19 for the 2023-2024 season are to achieve or exceed vaccination coverage of 75 percent in older people and health workers, as well as 60 percent for pregnant women and people with at-risk conditions.

Amós García Rojas from Spain’s Vaccinology Association believes that after a few years without flu during the Covid pandemic, society has relaxed.

The vaccination campaign has not yet ended, so there’s still time to get yours before the end of the season. The campaign began on October 15th and ends on January 31st. 

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