The Government recoils from the pressure of the Autonomous Communities and will demand PCR from all tourists from countries at risk

Spain will request a negative PCR test from all international travelers arriving from risk countries as of November 23. This is what the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, has communicated to the autonomous communities this Wednesday in the Inter-territorial Council on Foreign Health.

The tests will be done in the tourist’s country of origin (not in Spanish airports) at most 72 hours before and the traveler must prove his negative test before boarding, according to Illa at a press conference .

This diagnostic test will not be required at the land borders, because â € œthis was agreed with the member countriesâ €, according to the minister. This means that a French citizen can cross Perpignan without having to undergo a test, but to fly to Barcelona it will be required.

Those who arrive without proof can have an antigen test performed at the destination airport. Y those who fail to comply with this requirement will be sanctioned according to current legislation said the minister, without giving further details on the amount of these fines.

The countries at risk are practically the majority of the Schengen zone, except Finland, Norway and Greece Weeks ago the EU approved a map with unified criteria for all members. This mapping will be the reference to assess which are the countries at risk.

In the red zone (high risk) are all the members with more than 150 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. Also those whose accumulated infection rate in this period is equal to or greater than 50 and the rate of positive results of the detection tests is 4% or more.

Claimed measure

This is a measure that the tourism sector and the airlines have been asking the Government for for months. It is something that, in fact, the Canary Islands will start doing this week, which is in its high season and which is one of the few Spanish destinations that is not in the red zone of the risk map for traveling from the EU. The protocol was approved last October and comes into force on the 14th, next Saturday.

Other countries, such as Italy or Greece, for example, have already requested these tests from travelers arriving from abroad since last August.

This decision is taken at a time when our main tourist markets (United Kingdom, Germany and France) have decreed confinement for their citizens, therefore, they cannot travel for vacations, although they can for other reasons (residence, work, studies. ..).

Control form

Until now, tourists arriving in our country only had to fill out a form with their contact information (address, flight and seat number …) and sign a statement in which they claim to have no symptoms or have been in contact with no one infected in the past two weeks.

From now on, in addition to this health control form, The passenger will be asked to ensure that they have a negative PCR performed within 72 hours prior to arrival in Spain.

Travel agencies, tour operators and airlines or shipping companies must inform passengers of the obligation to have a PCR with a negative result in order to travel.

 

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