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Reader question: Does Spain accept the UK’s NHS Covid pass?

Now that fully vaccinated travellers from the UK don’t have to quarantine upon return from amber-list countries such as Spain, many Brits are looking to book last-minute summer holidays here and wondering whether they can use the UK’s NHS Covid Pass to enter.

Published: 21 July 2021 11:50 CEST
Reader question: Does Spain accept the UK's NHS Covid pass?
Does Spain accept NHS Covid Pass? Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

The answer is yes, Spain will accept the NHS Covid Pass for entry into the country.

The UK government website states: “Spain will accept the UK’s solutions to demonstrate your COVID vaccination status”. While the Spanish government website says they will allow: “Persons with a vaccination certificate, that the Ministry of Health recognises for this purpose, after verification by the health authorities, as well as their accompanying minors (under 12 years of age)”. 

What is the NHS Covid Pass and how do I get it?

The UK government website says that “The NHS COVID Pass lets you share your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination records or test COVID-19 status in a secure way. It allows you to show others the details of your COVID-19 vaccine (or vaccines) when travelling abroad to some countries or territories”.

You can obtain your NHS COVID Pass after receiving either two doses of the Moderna, AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine.

The only requirement, according to the UK government, is that you must have been vaccinated in England.

You can usually obtain your NHS COVID Pass within 24 hours of having your vaccination. However, it can take up to five days for your records to be updated.

Be aware that the NHS Covid Pass is not the same as the physical vaccination card you received when you got your Covid-19 jabs, the pass for travel must be downloaded from the official NHS App.

You can access the NHS COVID Pass through the free NHS App. You need to be registered with a GP in England to use the app.

You will see two barcodes within the NHS App: one barcode per vaccine. If you print a PDF of your COVID Pass status, your printed copy will show two barcodes. This can be used for travel, either in digital or paper form. 

Please note that the NHS App is not the same as the NHS COVID-19 tracing app.

READ ALSO – REMINDER: Everything Brits need to know about travel to Spain under new rules in July 2021

What if I’m not registered with a GP or the app is not working?

According to the UK government website if you’re not registered with a GP, you can still access the NHS COVID Pass via the NHS website or by calling 119 to request a letter instead.

Spain will accept NHS Covid Pass. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

What if I’m travelling to Spain from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?

If you are travelling from Scotland and received your Covid-19 jabs there, you will not be able to use the NHS Covid Pass, however, if you are fully vaccinated, you can still get proof of this to travel to Spain. The Scottish government has confirmed that its Covid vaccine certificate is valid for travel to Spain. 

The Scottish NHS website says “You can request a printed copy of your vaccination status online or by phoning the COVID-19 Status Helpline. Letters will be sent by first class post and should arrive within 14 days”. 

You can also view and request to print your vaccination status online by logging in using your unique username and password. These can be found on your Covid-19 vaccination appointment letter.

According to the Welsh government website, people in Wales cannot currently use the NHS app to access their NHS COVID Pass and vaccination status. Instead, you can get your vaccination status in paper format if two weeks have passed since you completed a full course of the COVID-19 vaccine.

If you want to get your proof online and are in Wales, you’ll need to register for an NHS login, if you do not have one already, and then download or print the Pass as a PDF document. You should do this at least two weeks before you are due to travel. 
 
Those who have been vaccinated in Northern Ireland can apply for the Covid vaccine certificate on the NI Direct website. For those who cannot apply online, requests for a paper certificate can also be made by calling 0300 200 7814 Monday – Friday, 8am to 8pm.
 

Can I travel to Spain as soon as I’ve been fully vaccinated?

Even though you can download your NHS Covid Pass within 24 hours of your vaccination, it will not actually serve you for travel to Spain until at least 14 days afterward.

You will be allowed to enter Spain when you can show proof of being fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arrival in Spain with a vaccine authorised by the European Medicines Agency or by the World Health Organisation.

All documents must specify the name and surname of the passenger and you need to make sure that the name on your NHS Covid Pass matches the name on your passport, if not, you will need to contact your GP to get this rectified as it may not be valid for entry into Spain. 

Why does my NHS Covid Pass show it’s only valid for one month?

Many people have been reporting that when they log on to the NHS app and download their pass, it has an expiry date on it. What happens if the expiry date is before you travel to Spain?

According to the UK government website “The printed copy is valid until its expiry date”.

Several people on Twitter have said they have gotten around this by logging back into the app at a later date and downloading another NHS Covid Pass with a different expiry date, further in the future.

I am not fully vaccinated yet, can I still travel to Spain?

Yes, even if you’re not fully vaccinated yet and cannot get your NHS Covid Pass, you can still travel from the UK to Spain by showing a negative Covid-19 test.

According to the Spanish government website, they will accept diagnostic certificates of NAAT tests (nucleic acid amplification tests, e.g.: RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, TMA, HAD, NEAR, CRISPR & SDA). 

  • Please be aware, that in addition to any Covid passes, certificates or negative tests, Spain also requires all travellers to fill out a health control form before they arrive. 

READ ALSO: Can I travel to Spain if I’ve only had one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine?

Member comments

  1. Has anything changed regarding EU pass /fully vaccinated ,being accepted for Ex pats wanting to travel from Germany to Scotland ?

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For members

BRITONS IN SPAIN

FACT CHECK: Spain’s ‘£97 daily rule’ isn’t new nor a worry for British tourists

The British tabloids are at it again causing alarm over the so-called '£97 daily rule’ which Spain is apparently imposing on UK tourists, who in turn are threatening to ‘boycott’ the country. 

Published: 15 April 2024 14:28 CEST
FACT CHECK: Spain's '£97 daily rule' isn't new nor a worry for British tourists

American playwright Eugene O’Neill once said: “There is no present or future – only the past, happening over and over again – now”.

In 2022, The Local Spain wrote a fact-checking article titled ‘Are UK tourists in Spain really being asked to prove €100 a day?‘, in which we dispelled the claims made in the British press about Spain’s alleged new rules for UK holidaymakers.

Two years on in 2024, the same eye-catching headlines are resurfacing in Blighty: “’Anti-British? Holiday elsewhere!’ Britons fume as tourists in Spain warned they may be subject to additional rules” in GB News, or “’They would be begging us to come back’: Brits vow to ‘boycott Spain’ over new £97 daily rule” in LBC.

The return of this rabble-rousing ‘news’ in the UK has coincided with calls within Spain to change the existing mass tourism model that’s now more than ever having an impact on the country’s housing crisis.

Even though Spaniards behind the protests have not singled out any foreign nationals as potential culprits, the UK tabloids have unsurprisingly capitalised on this and run headlines such as “Costa del Sol turns on British tourists”.

READ MORE: Why does hatred of tourists in Spain appear to be on the rise?

What is the so-called ‘£97 daily rule’?

Yes, there is theoretically a ‘£97 a day rule’, but it is not a new rule, nor one that applies only to UK nationals specifically, and not even one that Spain alone has imposed (all Schengen countries set their financial means threshold).

As non-EU nationals who are not from a Schengen Area country either (the United Kingdom never was in Schengen), British tourists entering Spain could have certain requirements with which to comply if asked by Spanish border officials.

Such requirements include a valid passport, proof of a return ticket, documents proving their purpose of entry into Spain, limits on the amount of time they can spend in Spain (the 90 out of 180 days Schengen rule), proof of accommodation, a letter of invitation if staying with friends or family (another controversial subject in the British press when it emerged) and yes, proof of sufficient financial means for the trip.

Third-country nationals who want to enter Spain in 2024 may need to prove they have at least €113,40 per day (around £97), with a minimum of €972 (around £830) per person regardless of the intended duration of the stay. It is unclear whether this could also possibly apply to minors.

The amount of financial means to prove has increased slightly in 2024 as it is linked to Spain’s minimum wage, which has also risen. 

Financial means can be accredited by presenting cash, traveller’s checks, credit cards accompanied by a bank account statement, an up-to-date bank book or any other means that proves the amount available as credit on a card or bank account.

Have Britons been prevented from entering Spain for not having enough money?

There is no evidence that UK holidaymakers have been prevented from entering Spain after not being able to show they have £97 a day to cover their stay, nor any reports that they have been asked to show the financial means to cover their stay either. 

17.3 million UK tourists visited Spain in 2023; equal to roughly 47,400 a day. 

Even though British tourists have to stand in the non-EU queue at Spanish passport control, they do not require a visa to enter Spain and the sheer number of UK holidaymakers means that they’re usually streamlined through the process, having to only quickly show their passports.

The only occasional hiccups that have arisen post-Brexit have been at the land border between Gibraltar and Spain (issued that are likely to be resolved soon), and these weren’t related to demonstrating financial means. 

Therefore, the British press are regurgitating alarmist headlines that don’t reflect any truth, but rather pander to the ‘they need us more than we need them’ mantra that gets readers clicking. 

To sum up, there is a £97 a day rule, but it is not new, it has not affected any British tourists to date, and it is not specific to Spain alone to potentially require proof of economic means. 

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