ARCHIVED - Spain removes essential travel only restriction for visitors from the UK

The BOE has published an order removing the non-essential travel restrictions on Friday May 21.

The order takes effect from midnight on May 24.

The Spanish government has revised its 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 and has added both the UK and Japan.

An Order published on Friday in the BOE (official State bulletin) explains that Spain receives a large number of visitors from the UK and that “for this reason many economic sectors need to adapt their capacity in anticipation of the changes which will occur at frontiers”.

The Order also states that a modification of the list to include the UK and Japan on the list of exemptions is currently being debated in the heart of the European Union, and that various Member States have already adapted their own lists to this effect.

The Order takes effect as of Monday 24^th May and is the latest modification to Spain’s list of exemptions after the addition of Israel on 11^th May: this decision was made in the light of the fall in coronavirus incidence and fatalities after the sharp increase in late January. The countries included on the list are now the UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, China and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.

Although this is excellent news for those planning to visit Spain who have already booked flights, those thinking about travelling from the UK must still take into consideration the stance of the British government, which has made it abundantly clear this week that it does not want its citizens travelling abroad this summer.

The UK Government has fought shy of imposing a ban on travel to other countries, fully aware of how unpopular this measure will be with its residents, to say nothing of neighbouring countries with whom it does business.

At the moment the UK “amber” traffic light classification remains in place until June 7th, so anyone travelling to the UK will still have to self-quarantine for 10 days on their return before that date unless they pay for a test after 5 days, and yield a negative result.

Spain may well be moved to a green light on June 7th, but given the rhetoric of the British government this week, it is unclear what measures the UK Gov. will impose.

Yesterday Transport Minister Grant Shapps said people should only go to countries on the "amber" list in "exceptional circumstances", amid concern over the spread of the Indian Covid variant in the UK.

Flights are starting to resume in many Spanish airports as travellers desperate to get to holiday homes in the sun ignore the advice and head to Spain regardless, with bookings soaring in expectation that Spain would remove this restriction, as it has done.

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.

It's been a busy day for announcements, as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also confirmed that from June 7 all nationalities will be permitted to enter Spain if they can prove that they have been fully vaccinated.

The covid passport scheme begins in Europe on July 1.