ARCHIVED - Spain opens for tourism: vaccinated travellers from non-EU countries allowed entry after June 7

On the same day, British tourists were given special treatment and will be allowed to enter Spain from Monday May 24.

Travellers from countries outside the EU will be allowed entry to Spain from June 7 providing they are vaccinated

This week Spain has been working hard to lay-out its tourism attractions at the FITUR international tourism trade fair in Madrid, but all week at FITUR the mood has been a little subdued, with the hostelry sector expressing its concerns vociferously that unless restrictions on travel were removed, the most lucrative markets would be unable to access their tourism offering.

Most of the emphasis has been on the measures being taken to ensure that the summer holiday season in Spain is as safe as possible, the tourism campaigns focusing on attracting the domestic market and emphasising the practical measures in place to attract Spanish families, the salvation for the sector last summer, the expectation being that disruption to the international market will continue due to the pandemic uncertainty.

But the mood became markedly upbeat on Friday due to two separate announcements from the Spanish government which changed the playing field, starting from Monday May 24.

There have been hints that from the 20th, British tourists would once again be able to enter Spain, and this was confirmed on Friday morning when the BOE published an amendment to the decree relating to the countries from which travellers were permitted to enter Spain without justifying their journey, adding the UK and Japan to an existing list. This effectively means that from Monday residents of the UK will be permitted to enter Spain without having to justify their reason to enter the country; ie, it will no longer be obligatory to prove that a journey is essential, or to be a resident of Spain.

Both the UK and Japan have been added to Spain's revised list of countries and administrative regions whose residents are exempt from the temporary restriction of non-essential travel into the European Union from outside the EU.

On Friday evening the Foreign office confirmed that travellers from the UK should be prepared to present evidence of a negative test if they have travelled to a country on Spain’s list of ‘risk countries’ in the 14 days prior to travel, but as the UK is not on this list, travellers will not be required to present a negative PCR test.

All passengers entering Spain will still be required to complete a pre-travel declaration form. Quarantine and testing on return to the UK continues to apply. Click to see UK Gov updated information regarding travel to Spain.

There is still a significant amount of resistance from the UK government, which continues to advise its citizens not to travel this summer, but unless it actually bans foreign travel as opposed to recommending 'staycations' and imposing quarantine measures, people will continue to travel where they can, exactly the same as they did last year. Today, the British Government reiterated on its social media pages, that strict quarantines and testing must be observed by those returning to the UK, and reiterated its opposition to its citizens travelling abroad, but the reaction today has been for a surge in bookings and interest in returning to Spain.

This has been graphically illustrated this week as Alicante-Elche airport reports a sudden surge in flights and passengers:The Costa Blanca's Alicante-Elche Airport will see 5,000 Brits pass through its arrivals terminal this week as flights start to resume, and travellers choose not to heed UK government advice and head for Spain's sunny shores.

And airlines and booking sites have confirmed bookings are experiencing a surge as restrictions are relaxed.

Second announcement: Pedro Sánchez announces all travellers can enter Spain providing they are vaccinated from June 7.

The second announcement came from President Pedro Sánchez at FITUR, who stressed that proof of full vaccination will be required, but that Spain would be welcoming travellers from June 7.

A partir del lunes estará permitida la entrada de viajeros de países seguros no comunitarios, entre ellos Reino Unido. Además, desde el 7 de junio los turistas de países con los que no haya plena libertad de movimiento podrán venir a España si tienen pauta completa de vacunación. pic.twitter.com/aAS7FYgzzI

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) May 21, 2021

"From June 7, all vaccinated people and their families are also welcome regardless of their place of origin," Sánchez explained. Travellers will only have to present a certificate proving that they have received a full vaccination recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in order to enter Spain.

Yesterday the European Union announced that the EU Covid passport scheme begins in Europe on July 1,  a system which will allow all vaccinated Spanish residents to move around freely within Europe, along with their European counterparts. Each government will issue its own Covid certification proving that the traveller has been either fully vaccinated or has been diagnosed with Covid (and recovered) and has therefore generated sufficient antibodies for immunity.

The combination of these three changes are likely to encourage travellers to be more confident about reserving a trip abroad; travel insurance, however, is essential as we've all discovered during the last year as the pandemic is far from over, and care must still be exercised.