Spain will impose the obligatory nature of a negative PCR test 72 hours before arrival to all travelers from countries at risk for coronavirus.
This was announced this Wednesday by the Ministry of Health after its owner, Salvador Illa, has communicated it to the regional councilors in the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System.
The measure will take effect on November 23.
In the case of European countries and the Schengen zone, the risk map prepared by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) will be followed.
According to the latest report from this body, all these countries are at maximum risk, except Norway, Finland and Greece, which would a priori be the only ones exempted from submitting the test.
For third countries, the reference will be the basic incidence accumulated per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days, complemented with the capacities implemented as contemplated in the International Health Regulations.
In the Health Control Form that all passengers must complete before entering the country, they will have to answer from November 23 to the question of whether they have a negative PCR carried out in the 72 hours prior to arrival in Spain.
The authorities may request the passenger to accredit the result of the test.
The document must be the original, written in Spanish or English and may be submitted in paper or electronic format, as indicated by Health.
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The Canary Islands, the autonomous community least affected by the virus, has already launched an initiative so that tourists who arrive on the island have to undergo tests before arriving.
It approved the measure on October 29 and it will take effect on November 14.
It establishes that without a negative test done with a maximum of 72 hours in advance, tourists will not be admitted to a hotel, apartment or vacation home.
In this case, it affects both nationals and foreigners.
The usefulness of this measure is, in any case, disputed.
As Pedro Gullón, member of the Spanish Epidemiology Society explains, with it you avoid contagions on the flight, but "no one can ensure that that person is not incubating the virus and spreading it at their destination."
It is a way of limiting the arrival of asymptomatic patients, but it is not a guarantee that prevents the pathogen from entering the country.
"It would be more useful if, in addition to the negative PCR, you impose a 10-day quarantine at the destination," says Gullón.
This is what the Asian countries that have best controlled the epidemic are doing: testing at origin and mandatory quarantine.
The measure has been on the table for months.
Since the summer, even, although it was decided to allow the entry of tourists without evidence so as not to harm the sector.
The Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto, already announced in September that testing third countries was a precaution that was being assessed at the European level and that she, along with her counterparts, were going to transfer to the Commission.
At the end of that month, nine Member States - Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, led by Spain - signed a joint declaration to request uniform measures in the movement of people through the EU and its input, but without explicitly mentioning PCR tests.
Later, on October 13, the European Council issued the recommendation on which the measure that is now announced is based.
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