Portugal has come a long way.
Shaken by the Covid-19 and a violent hospital crisis in January and February, the country today displays a much more reassuring health situation than most of its European neighbors.
But before planning on the high summer season, the Portuguese authorities fear, during this Easter period, an epidemiological surge.
Also the confinement, in force since January 15, was cautiously extended until Monday April 5.
And until the 15th of the same month, at a minimum, all travelers from France must self-isolate for fourteen days on arrival.
A final sacrifice before the scheduled reopening of the country to tourism.
READ THE FILE: Where to go in Portugal?
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Number of cases, confinement, openings ... What is the situation in Portugal?
Permissible until the end of the year celebrations, the country then faced a violent epidemic wave, caused by the virality of the English variant, today responsible for more than 70% of new contaminations.
Until reaching the first world rank in terms of number of deaths (nearly 17,000 at the beginning of April), compared to its population of ten million inhabitants.
Today on the eve of its eleventh consecutive week of confinement, Portugal has an incidence rate of 70 cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the last fourteen days, according to Johns Hopkins University.
A reassuring assessment on which Jean-Pierre Pinheiro, director of the Portuguese Tourist Office in France, is careful not to communicate:
"The country is doing much better, but we remain cautious because, as we know, the backlash can do wrong."
The proof: circulation between municipalities remains prohibited until April 5 in order to avoid family gatherings.
And entry conditions are tightening for tourists from countries where the epidemiological situation is worrying - incidence rate exceeding 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
This is the case for France.
Since April 1 and until the 15th minimum, only arrivals for compelling reasons are authorized.
And, in addition to a negative PCR test, a fourteen-day isolation on arrival is mandatory.
A measure aimed at minimizing the risks because from this Easter Monday, deconfinement will be initiated, with the reopening of museums and terraces (up to four people only).
Bars, restaurants and shops will have to wait until April 19, before a return to normal is expected on May 3.
Read also: Covid-19: from Italy to Morocco, these countries which are tightening the screws for French tourists
Where is the vaccination campaign?
The vaccination campaign, launched in December 2020, is progressing slowly: only 5.8% of the country's inhabitants - just over 500,000 in total - have received the double dose of the vaccine, according to the European Center for Prevention and Control. disease control (ECDC).
A report that places Portugal 24th in the world among the countries that vaccinate their populations the most according to the Our World in Data platform.
The government's objective remains unchanged: to achieve group immunity by the end of the summer.
The director of the Tourist Office warns, however:
“Even if the vaccine arrives en masse, we will not be able to relax the efforts in terms of health security.
We must prepare to live with Covid-19 again this summer, ”
projects Jean-Pierre Pinheiro.
Read also: No, you will not need to be vaccinated to travel this summer
Vaccination passport, quarantine, test ... What will be the conditions of access this summer for tourists?
In the meantime, Portugal
“strongly defends”
the health passport presented by the European Union, which the country currently chairs.
He will therefore do “everything possible” to ensure that the “digital green certificate” is adopted before the end of the Portuguese mandate in June, said Secretary of State for European Affairs Ana Paula Zacarias.
Read also: Green passport, vaccination passport, health certificate ... A brief vocabulary for travelers in the time of Covid-19
Moreover, the archipelago of Madeira, which did not need to confine its population this year (just like the Azores) and where everything is open, launched a similar initiative recently.
That of a "green corridor": all travelers who prove to have been vaccinated or to have cured of Covid-19 (supporting serological test) are authorized to enter the territory.
“Clearly, we are skipping the stage of the mandatory negative PCR test, in force elsewhere in mainland Portugal,”
decodes Jean-Pierre Pinheiro.
It is already possible to reach the country by plane from France, despite the fortnight.
Read also: Summer holidays: should you book now or wait until the last minute?
"The priority for us is to maintain a good volume of flights between France and Portugal
," assures Jean-Pierre Pinheiro.
Before Covid-19, there were 600 per week.
At the start of the pandemic, less than 100. Now, we are almost at 400 flights per week from fifteen French airports (against 22 previously).
It's a good signal.
And Nantes and Montpellier will soon reopen. ”
Largely dependent on tourism (a sector which represented 8.7% of its GDP before the pandemic), Portugal is therefore in the starting blocks to welcome tourists this summer.
To reassure them, more than 13,000 establishments (restaurants, hotels, etc.) benefit from the Clean & Safe health label, which now takes environmental criteria into account.
An effort already noticed: Internet users of the European Best Destinations site have just voted Madeira "green destination" and Portugal "best European destination" for the year 2021.
