The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, announced this Friday, with a month to go before the start of summer, the opening of the Spanish borders for citizens of the main tourist-emitting countries, including the most important, the British, that they will be able to visit Spain from Monday without health controls.
In addition, as of June 7, all travelers from countries with which there is no freedom of movement will be able to enter Spanish territory provided they have a certificate of having received the complete schedule of vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency ( EMA, for its acronym in English) or the World Health Organization (WHO).
This is how Sanchez explained it, from the Madrid International Tourism Fair (Fitur), in which he presented the Digital Green Certificate, a document in paper or digital format valid throughout the European Union that will come into force on July 1 and with which it seeks to streamline travel between countries in the region and, therefore, boost tourism.
Spain “opens up to the world”
Regarding the opening schedule, the chief executive referred to the ministerial order published this Friday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), by which the entry of travelers from safe countries will be allowed. community from May 24.
The text includes ten countries: United Kingdom, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, South Korea, Thailand and Rwanda.
“All of them will be on the list of safe countries and, therefore, they will be able to enter our country and will not have to face health checks upon arrival,” clarified Sanchez, who stressed that British tourists They will therefore be able to travel without restrictions. He has even said it in English as well, to give his message greater projection.
This is good news for the tourism sector since the United Kingdom was the main source country for tourists in 2019, with 18 million citizens visiting Spain in that last year of pre-pandemic normality.
In addition, “since June 7, all vaccinated people and their families are also welcome, regardless of their place of origin,” Sanchez added. This also opens the doors to travelers from the US, a country from which more than 3 million tourists came in 2019.
“From Spain, from Madrid, we open ourselves to the world”, celebrated the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Reyes Marotto.
EU-Covid certificate
During his speech, Sanchez also presented the new EU-Covid certificate, which will be “free and universal”, and will allow proof that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, has been negative in a diagnostic test or has overcome the disease.
It will work “in a very simple way”, by means of a QR code issued, in the Spanish case, by Health or through the autonomous communities, and will avoid “complex checks on arrival” for the passenger.
In any case, the certificate, with which mobility within the European Union will be achieved “this summer”, is not “a passport” or a “requirement to travel”, but rather “an instrument to facilitate mobility, the arrival and transit of travelers”.
The Green Digital Certificate guarantees the protection of data and privacy of the user, who by presenting the QR code will avoid being included among travelers subject to additional controls.
The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has described the agreement reached by the European Union as a “milestone”, which on Thursday gave the green light to the project by which the Member States agree to avoid additional restrictions such as quarantines, unless they are necessary and proportionate.
Extension of the certificate to third countries
Always in this line, Sanchez announced, Spain is already working together with the European Commission to extend the certificate to third countries.
An “intense” work praised by Darias, who has said that the implementation phase of the tool is “very advanced”, and that they will expand collaboration with the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, the airport manager, AENA, and State ports.
In the minister’s opinion, the certificate “shows the strength of the European project and the excellent collaboration of the National Health System”, which will allow “in just under a month, millions of Spaniards can travel throughout the territory with this certificate , and also all European citizenship”.
A 2021 of recovery
With this opening of borders announced precisely at Fitur, the first major international fair to recover face-to-face attendance, the Government expects that this summer “30% or 40% of the international tourists who arrived before will come to Spain, between 8 ,5 and 10 million visitors”.
“By the end of 2021 we hope that between 60% and 70% of foreign visits will have recovered,” warned Sanchez, who is confident that this summer will be “the one of recovery from the crisis.”
