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Date Published: 04/06/2020
ARCHIVED - Spanish borders with France and Portugal will re-open June 22nd…oh no they won´t….
Today has been a bit like a pantomime except that it’s not funny
Frustrating indecision continues to damage the chances that Spain will “capture ” foreign tourists this summer, conflicting information from government ministers continuing to generate nothing but frustration as decisions about when borders will open and what type of controls will be in place for those who would like to visit Spain this summer still hang in the air.
With tourism accounting for 12% of GDP and the country welcoming 80 million visitors annually, it’s an important topic.
It’s understandable that there should be fear of re-opening the borders and possibly undoing all the good work that has been done, and fear is visible every time we step out into the streets, as although we all don our masks and try to live life as normal, fear is visible as passers-by swiftly side-step in order to avoid physical contact, avert their eyes when trolleys accidentally scrape in a supermarket and plaster our hands with gel if we’ve inadvertently touched a door handle, handrail or pay button whilst exiting the car park.
Nobody wants a second wave and there is genuine concern in many quarters that the arrival of tourists from other cities in Spain and certainly from abroad, could bring new cases to areas which have sacrificed much in order to combat the pandemic, starting the whole cycle off again. What’s going to happen in the autumn if there is a second wave is one of the most commonly expressed worries amongst businesses who are only just starting to recover from the last brutal lockdown which has left many of us hanging by a slim financial thread which could easily break should a second lockdown be necessary this autumn.
But the pressure from businesses in the hostelry sector is overwhelming, restaurants, bars, hotels, those working in the leisure tourism sector in all areas of activity clamouring for borders to re-open and foreign tourists to come to Spain this summer and “save the summer campaign.”
The decisions taken by “competing countries” for summer tourist visitors such as Italy which opened its borders yesterday, or Greece and Croatia who intend to open on 15th June has sparked a certain panic in Spain, the hostelry sector terrified that holidaymakers will abandon Spain for alternative destinations, but the Government seems incapable of choosing a path and sticking to it, one minister contradicting another, often within minutes of an announcement being made.
Thursday morning is a clear example of this.
This morning the minister for industry, tourism and commerce, Reyes Maroto, gave a press breakfast for foreign correspondents during which she stated that the borders with neighbouring France and Portugal would be re-opened on 22nd June when the state of emergency was lifted, giving freedom of movement between the three countries. This is something that the regions of Galicia and Extremadura have been pressuring for, keen to reactivate their tourism businesses. She explained that there would “probably be no compulsory quarantine for travellers arriving from these countries”, although admitted that this measure “had not yet been formally approved.”
Quarantine restrictions would be lifted on a gradual basis, she said, based on reciprocal agreement with other countries and taking into consideration the epidemiological situation of those nations, that is to say, if they are in a “similar position to that of Spain in terms of virus control”.
She was, however, unable to give any detail of how this interchange would work, and explain how French and Portuguese tourists would be able to enter and move about, given that flights to the mainland are restricted until July 1st. It was also unclear whether this would permit tourists from for example, the UK, driving down through France and entering via the road network.Would they be permitted to enter via France for “non-essential reasons” such as tourism?
At the moment the borders are closed for any traffic other than merchant or essential travel, a control which has been in place since 17th March. The final extension of state of emergency will now conclude on 21st June, after which time a new decree must be issued if borders are to remain closed or any controls at all stay in place, as once the state of emergency concludes, the powers of the Government to control movement, also conclude. For this a new document is being prepared which will be presented to cabinet on Tuesday.
The foreign correspondents did their job and within minutes headlines were going out all over the world announcing the “good news” that Spain was re-opening its borders with France and Portugal from 22nd June.
However, shortly afterwards, the Government issued a “note of clarification” stating that exterior movement “could be extended beyond the conclusion of the state of emergency”. The date of 22nd June was “tentative” it said.
But “tentative” wasn´t the word chosen by the Portuguese government who swiftly issued their own clarification of the situation saying that any decision to open the border with Portugal was theirs to make and would be made by them, not Spain. The Portugese exterior minister, Augusto Santos Silva, expressed his “surprise” at the announcement, " Portugal will decide whether or not it opens his borders", he said.
Last week we were informed that Spain would be opening its borders to foreign tourists on the 1st July and that there would be no quarantine requirements for foreign visitors.
We were told that clarification would follow defining the limitations and clarifying what the procedures would be for the admittance of foreign tourists, ie would they have to undergo any form of testing, would their movements be registered in any way for contact tracing, etc and more importantly, would limitations be placed on the countries from which travellers could come. At the moment this clarification has still not been issued, although on Monday we had further indications of what “could” happen at airports, including Covid testing
Yesterday transport minister, José Luis Ábalos, announced that legislation establishing the protocols which must be observed by airlines carrying tourists would be published “soon”.
But still we have no firm idea of when or what. So those attempting to book still can´t do so with absolute certainty.
Yesterday the German Foreign Minister announced that Spain and the UK would both be off-limits for German tourists when travel resumed on the 15th June in Schengen border countries (until quarantine restrictions were removed) and last week Greece decided not to allow Spanish residents into the country on 15th June when it re-opens. So are UK holiday makers safe to book a flight to Spain for 1st July?
Probably, maybe, maybe not…..…..take your pick.
To confuse matters further, both the ministers for transport and tourism have now said that regions exiting phase 3 before the 1st July can welcome foreign tourists from June 22nd “if they can do so within hygienic conditions”, so flights are now being offered to the regions most likely to meet these conditions, ie the Balearic and Canary islands, both of which are already in phase 3.
Presumably their statement that “any” region could do so means that technically any region could open its doors for foreign tourism before the 1st July…..the official date on which Spain re-opens for tourists, but would quarantine controls still be in place? Would there be tourism flights before the 1st July? Would a family driving through France be permitted to enter Spain and drive across the country to a coastal area such as Murcia through several regions?
Quarantine controls we have been told, conclude when the state of emergency concludes, on the 21st June. So what is going to happen for the period between 22nd June and 1st July?
And British second-home owners remain understandably confused by all of this. Social media this week has been full of confused potential holiday makers trying to clarify what is going on; can we drive to Spain through France before the 1st July? Is it guaranteed that we can get in to Spain if we book a flight now? If we book a flight now and then Spain says we can´t come in will we be entitled to a refund? Now that the UK has imposed a 14 day quarantione will we have to quarantine after coming to Spain for a holiday? If we fail a Covid test at a Spanish airport will we be sent home without having a holiday? Will we have to do a test before flying?
British PM a fat lot of help
The UK public are quite accustomed to question dodging by politicians. Asked at the Downing Street briefing relating to the new quarantine restrictions in the UK whether he would recommend people in the UK book foreign holidays, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the public to “follow Foreign Office guidance” (which advises against travel other than for essential reasons). "We've got to knock this virus on the head," he said. Ok, so is that no then.????
“A similar position to that of Spain in terms of virus control”.
This is the killer phrase which is leaving everything up in the air. On Tuesday the tourism minister sparked off a wave of headlines in the UK media that British tourists would not be able to travel to Spain in the early part of the summer when she said, “we are studying implementing secure routes with other countries that are at the same epidemiological level as ourselves,” following the thought processes suggested by the EU that countries should seek to establish “green corridors” or secure “travel bubbles” through reciprocal arrangements with other countries to open up travel.
"Regarding the United Kingdom, there have been talks with tour operators but British data still have to improve, because it's important to ensure that the person comes well and then returns well."
The tourism minister said that as soon as conditions improved in the UK, Spain would be ready to receive British citizens "with the same hospitality as ever".
But at the moment, although the EU has issued recommendations, there is little co-ordination, so although the Spanish tourism minister has stated again this week, that “we have to avoid that each member state unilaterally decides that it is a safe destination, “ there IS no one body doing that on behalf of the world, so at the moment each nation is being left to make this decision for themselves, including Spain.
Let’s be honest, the UK is knocking on the door of 40,000 with a steadily rising fatalities rate and Spain has only declared one death in the last 3 days, so is likely that Spain will view the countries as being on an even footing?.
So we are now in June, Spain is supposed to be opening its mainland to foreign tourists from 1st July, yet we STILL don´t know under what conditions, who will be allowed in, whether they will have to undergo a testing process or not, and whether they will be monitored in any way.
So far we are being told there will be no quarantine, but as the days pass by and bookings are made for other countries, pressure from the hostelry sector continues for firm decisions to be made.
And the only certainty is that AT THE MOMENT British tourists can´t enter mainland Spain until 1st July.
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