Date Published: 09/12/2020
ARCHIVED - Spain changes requirement for PCR test before entering the country
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Children under 6 will not be obliged to supply a test and blood plasma analyses will be accepted instead of a PCR
The Spanish Ministry of Health has announced that following a significant number of complaints about the requirement for travellers to submit a PCR test when entering the country that the conditions will be modified.
The anouncement was made following a meeting of the Interterritorial Health Council on Wednesday afternoon.
Full details of the amendments have now been published in the BOE for Thursday, but Health Minister Salvador Illa said after the meeting that three basic amendments to the system had been accepted.
The first of these will remove the obligation to present a negative PCR test for children under the age of 6.
The second is to change the requirement to present a negative PCR test, taken 72 hours before arrival in Spain; it will now be permitted to submit a blood plasma analysis instead "(TMA Transcription -Mediated Amplification) test and other tests based on equivalent molecular techniques."
In relation to this point, the BOE specifically says:
"First, Active Infection Diagnostic Test Modalities for SARS-CoV-2 admitted in relation to the fourth section and the final paragraph of the sixth section of the Resolution of November 11, 2020, of the General Directorate of Public Health. accepted modalities of Active Infection Diagnostic Tests for SARS-CoV-2, in relation to the fourth section and the third paragraph of the sixth section of the Resolution of November 11, 2020, of the General Directorate of Public Health, relative to the controls To be carried out at the points of entry in Spain, the PCR test (RT-PCR), the TMA and other tests based on equivalent molecular techniques
The third modification is to permit translations of the test results and accompanying documentation to be in French and German instead of only Spanish or English.
The Minister indicated that these decisions had been taken due to the problems experienced principally by students and Spanish nationals working abroad who had complained about the difficulties being experienced in complying with the regulations, as it was often impossible to actually find a centre where the PCR tests could be carried out which were open in days prior to the flight and could guarantee the results would be available before passengers travelled to the airport.
Hopefully it may make the cost of travelling to Spain slightly cheaper as well.
The measures will take effect from Thursday 10th December.
Extra note; many regions are still maintaining closure of their regional external borders which may not be crossed for anything other than essential reasons. These do include travelling to a habitual residence, but do not include a provision for visitors to travel to a holiday home. The UK Govt. has removed the prohibition on travelling abroad but the Foreign Office still recommends against travel to Spain.