Coronavirus: Spain wants British, American, and other low-end tourists to be able to travel to the country without polymerase chain reaction (PCR) | Economie

Spain is moving to revitalize tourism as quickly as possible. To do so, it is negotiating in the European Union to allow entry to travelers without CRP – even if they are not vaccinated – from countries with a low infection rate, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Latin America, and Asian countries. This initiative would also serve the European Union countries, such as Germany, France or Italy, which are some of the major countries that emit tourists.

“Countries with a low infection rate should not pose a risk and could come without CRP, from the United Kingdom or any other third country. The same will be done with the rest of Europe,” Fernando Valdes, Secretary of State for Tourism, explained this Wednesday after a seminar on the sector European Parliament in Madrid.

In the morning, the Branch Secretary, Reyes Maruto, has already indicated this possibility, although she only mentioned British travelers: “They will be able to come to Spain from May 20,” he said in the international campaign show. For Spanish tourism. This date is the deadline for discussion in the European Union on easing conditions for non-essential travel from third countries. The problem will continue to be the restrictions imposed by the British government, among others, which are currently harsh and shake the summer campaign for countries such as Spain, Italy or Greece (among the main competitors, only Portugal stands for the Green Zone list).

The CEO therefore hopes that leisure travel requirements will be eased, although there is still margin for closure. One of the main pitfalls is creating the barrier between good and bad. That is, from what level the occurrence of the virus is (or not) under control. So far, the number of cases is 25 cases per 100,000 people in the last 14 days, which is considered extremely low.

Save the summer

With this move, Spain is trying to throw off the bad omens of another summer in the middle of the gas. The British decision to list the country on the amber list – travelers have to go through mandatory quarantine upon return and submit to my two PCRs – put the government and the sector on the wrong foot. Both these and others had hoped to make an exception, and at least the islands were on the list of selected countries.

Despite this, Maruto and Valdes are confident that Spain will be on the green list in the next review. We asked him to differentiate the epidemiological situation by region. If not, we will have to continue to reduce the infection rate across the country, but we are convinced that the British will be able to spend their summer vacations in Spain if they want to. “

For his part, the British Foreign Secretary acknowledged the UK’s difficulty in regionalizing Spain: “I have a feeling that it is complicated because he will have to do it with everyone, not just with us,” he said. Although he is also optimistic and believes that the country will be among the destinations for unrestricted travel before the start of summer.

For the cases of countries that have overcome the cumulative barrier of occurrence considered to be risky, residents of these places will be subject to green digital certification if they are within the European Union – in principle it will come into force in June. As for the third countries, the government wants to achieve similar agreements that are subject to the same conditions set by the so-called health passport, according to ministerial sources.