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ARCHIVED - Am I allowed to fly to Spain from the UK this Christmas?
Can I pick someone up from the airport and drive them between regions?
The announcement by the Valencia regional government on Friday that the regional border is closing on 21st December and will not be open for the festive season for family visits as expected, has provoked a lot of questions.
Travel has been a nightmare during the last few months due to the coronavirus and this festive season is proving to be equally unsettling for anyone attempting to visit family in Spain over the Christmas period.
The first major question is the situation regarding whether international travellers are allowed to fly into Spain when so many of the regions have their external borders “closed”. (click to see latest border closures and seasonal restrictions by region of Spain)
As Spain is within the Schengen zone, the regional governments have no power to close international borders, so planes (and ports) which handle international traffic are all open as normal and passengers can take-off and land as normal. British travellers are required to submit a PCR test and fill in a passenger arrival form giving contact details.
British nationals are free to land in any region but must stay within the region in which they landed unless there are no movement restrictions preventing them from entering a neighbouring region.
So in this case, anyone living in the Valencia Region or travelling to a second home in the region can do so if they land at Alicante airport, but are not allowed to drive across the border into, for example, the neighbouring Murcia region unless their journey is essential (ie attending an appointment) during their stay.
This is where the problems arise; the external perimeter borders of the regions and internal provincial or municipal local borders are controlled by the regional governments as these do have the power to prevent movement in and out of their borders and British nationals visiting Spain are subject to the same mobility rules and the same restrictions as any other nationality.Click for outline restrictions by region
On Friday morning the Valencia regional government announced that it would be closing its regional border from 21st December to prevent residents from other areas of Spain visiting family and friends during the festive season and to prevent Valencian residents from doing the same thing (and returning to the region with covid and setting off a fresh outbreak). Only those who were resident in the region would be allowed in to return to their place of habitual residence.
So this means that those who live in Murcia can´t drive across to visit friends in Alicante Province and vice-versa between 21st December and 15th January.
But what about those landing in Alicante airport between this period?
Anyone who lands at the airport and is staying in the Valencia Region can do so, providing they don´t leave the region during their stay.
However, if they are travelling on to a destination outside of the region and moving into another region, then they are subject to the regulations of the neighbouring region once they cross the border by vehicle.
Both the Murcia and Andalucían regions have closed their perimeter borders to all but essential travel and only permit travel to habitual place of residence.
Although common sense is being applied in the very large majority of cases and international travellers are not being prevented from travelling to their second properties or to visit family, technically, they could be as technically, they shouldn´t be crossing the borders for non-essential purposes (such as holidays). However, very few readers report having been stopped by a police control.
If you are having to make this journey carry paperwork proving the reason for your journey and if you are picking up visitors, then the two rules which could cause issues relate to wearing masks in the vehicle if you are from mixed households and the occupancy of vehicles.
The Murcia Region is still applying rules passed earlier in the year relating to vehicle occupancy, and only permits vehicles to be occupied to 50% of their capacity. So only two people can travel in a four seater vehicle and only three are permitted in a 5-seater (or use a taxi).
Masks must be worn inside the vehicle if the occupants are from more than one household.
So if you are picking up family from Alicante airport and have to drive through the Murcia Region in order to do so, take this into consideration.
Also remember this rule if going out together for something to eat or to go shopping as this is when there is no excuse for the rules to be broken and this is when the fines are being imposed, regardless of nationality.
Anyone landing at Corvera airport in the Murcia region can stay within the Murcia region, as this is the international border entry point, but anyone wishing to enter the Valencia Region and landing at Corvera, which is in Murcia, may potentially be questioned entering the Valencia Region. Again, police controls tend to only go up at the weekends when attempts are being made to stop residents of Spain travelling between regions.
Now that the Murcian regional government has removed all of the restrictions banning travel between local municipalities (apart from Torre Pacheco and Los Alcázares which are due for revision on Monday) it is much easier to travel around within the region once you are actually here without much risk of being stopped by a police control other than for breaching vehicle occupancy rules.
There is of course the whole question of whether anybody should be travelling anywhere at the moment and there are so many potential points of contacts and so many potential opportunities for anybody travelling to accidentally become ill themselves or pick up the virus in some way and spread it, but obviously this is for each to decide for themselves.
The major issues are only likely to arise post-Brexit if no agreement is made between the UK and Spain about the movement of British nationals between the UK and EU borders should covid figures remain at current levels. As things currently stand, the high level of covid cases will prevent non-Spanish residents from travelling between the UK and Spain. But a week is a long time in this pandemic and with information changing every 5 minutes this may never happen!
So in conclusion;
British nationals wishing to visit family living in the Valencia Region this Christmas may fly into Alicante Airport from the UK and do so, but if they live in the neighbouring Murcia Region and want to see mum in Torrevieja on Christmas day, then they can´t until after January 15th or when the restrictions are next revised.
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