CHANGES made to travel and entry requirements within the European Union have come into force from today (Tuesday, February 1) and, for the first time in nearly two years, are now streamlined across the bloc independently of the pandemic situation in individual countries.
Travelling to and from any EU country now follows the same procedures, cutting out confusion (photo: Zivotpodlelucie.com)
As a general rule, quarantine is no longer a set requirement unless a traveller tests positive for Covid, and the confusion involved in having to look up what to do before setting off on holiday or to see family and friends should now be eliminated.
Whether travelling into Spain from one of the other 26 member States, or to Spain from one of these – not including the UK, which ceased to be a part of the EU at the end of the 'transition period' in January 2021 – the new system operates as follows.
Your 'Covid passport' – now a key travel document
If you have not done so already, you will need to download your 'Covid certificate' which shows you have been fully vaccinated, from your regional health authority website (for instructions on how to do so, depending upon where you live, check out our article here).
Again, depending upon where in Spain you live, you may have already had to do this just to be able to enter a bar or restaurant, even just to go for a coffee on an outside terrace; in the Comunidad Valenciana, scanning these at the entrance remains a requirement, although in some regions, such as Madrid, Extremadura and the two Castillas, it has never been obligatory.
In general terms, this is all you need for inter-EU travel - but make sure it's up to date
Once your certificate is downloaded – in PDF format – you can either keep it on a mobile phone or tablet for the QR code to be scanned (it works with a cracked or dirty screen, too), or print it off and use the paper copy, or both.
From January 25, having an up-to-date 'Covid passport' has been enough to allow you to travel between EU countries without needing to take a test or quarantine, irrespective of which country you're entering or coming from, or the level of contagion therein. The 'traffic light system' was finally axed – due to the onset of the the Omicron variant, which a third jab is thought to provide extra protection against, practically the whole of the EU is on 'dark red', but contagion rates do not necessarily now translate to hospital admissions, serious illness or death – largely thanks to the high percentage of the population's having been vaccinated.
What if I don't have a 'Covid passport'?
Although the simple answer to this is to simply get vaccinated so you can have one, isolated cases of people who cannot have the jab are known – if, for example, you suffer an anaphylactic shock reaction to vaccines in general, which you would already be aware of as we all have a series of immunisations in childhood and early adulthood as standard; also, if you are a brand-new resident in an EU country and not yet on the public health system, having come from a country where the vaccine roll-out is not widespread.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com