Spain wants to save its summer season and, like Greece or Portugal, is getting into working order to convince tourists to come back in large numbers.
Last summer, the favorite country of the French in July August saw its tourist attendance drop by more than 79% compared to 2019. Overview of the situation on the other side of the Pyrenees.
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Number of cases, confinement, openings ... What is the situation in Spain?
By the end of May, the country had finished with its fourth epidemic wave. The peak of Covid-19 contagion was observed on April 24, with 258 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. A weaker episode, however, than feared by the country's authorities. "
This new wave that we expected (...) is in fact only a small wave
", indicated last week Fernando Simon, head of health emergencies in Spain. "
We hope and believe this will continue."
At the end of May, according to official figures, the incidence rate was around 125 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Since May 9, and the end of the state of emergency, after six months of restrictions, Spaniards can once again move freely across the country, with the exception of the Balearic and Canary Islands, where a PCR or antigen test - negative - is asked of them, as for any traveler coming from abroad. Objective: to save the summer holidays. The regions are taking back their power in health policy. Perimeter containment is removed, except for seven autonomous communities: Andalusia (where some cities in the Cordoba and Cadiz region have been closed recently), Aragon, Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, Murcia and Rioja where we reserve the right to re-limit certain areas in the event of sharp increases in contamination.
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If wearing a mask is compulsory, the curfew has ended in a large part of the country, with the exception of the Balearics, the Canary Islands and in the region of Valencia (between 11 p.m. and midnight and until at 6 a.m.).
For shops, nine regions still restrict hours, with a closure imposed at 10 p.m. for Navarre, Catalonia and the Basque Country, for example, or 11 p.m. in Madrid.
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As for the catering sector, establishments must close between 8 p.m. (in certain areas of Aragon), 10 p.m. (Basque Country, Navarre) and 1 a.m. (Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha and Asturias).
Note that nightclubs in Andalusia can reopen until 2 a.m., but only open-air dance floors are open to the public.
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Health certificate: how will Europeans travel this summer?
Where is the vaccination campaign?
Begun, as for the rest of Europe, at the end of December 2020, the vaccination campaign has accelerated since the spring.
According to the Johns Hopkins Institute, just over 18% of the population has received the full treatment.
"
Mass vaccination is the shortest way to reactivate our country and our economy
", advocated last April the president of the government Pedro Sanchez.
The executive plans 87 million doses distributed between April and September and indicates that "
in the most pessimistic scenarios
", 70% of Spaniards will be fully vaccinated by the end of August.
The date of August 18 is even advanced by the Spanish authorities to reach this figure.
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Our travel guide
Vaccination passport, quarantine, test ... What will be the conditions of access for tourists?
June 7 is eagerly awaited in Spain. It is on this date that foreign tourists who have validated their full vaccination will be able to come to the country without having to present an anti-covid test (PCR or antigen), as indicated by the president of the government Pedro Sanchez, there a few days on the occasion of the tourism fair (FITUR) in Madrid.
A provision in addition to the one already in place since May 24 which authorizes nationals of safe countries, ie
"those listed in green according to the classification of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)"
to be able to come to Spanish soil without health requirements.
The list of these countries was specified in a press release from the Spanish government.
The United Kingdom, the main contingent of tourists in Spain, is particularly targeted by this decree.
Read also: Spain will let in "all vaccinated people" from abroad from June 7
For the unvaccinated, a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours is always requested for any traveler coming from abroad.
Wearing a mask is compulsory for all people over 6 years old, in public spaces or in places open to the public (hotel; shops where the distance of 1.5 meters cannot be respected).
As the tourist office of Spain in France reminds us, “
when possible, it will be necessary to respect physical distancing in the water and on the sand with people who are not part of your household.
Don't forget to wear the mask out of the water
”.
Read also: What if Asturias was the perfect destination this summer?
The Spanish authorities are doing everything to revive tourism, one of the country's economic lungs: it represented more than 12% of the GDP in 2019. Spain therefore wants to bring back its vacationers. A press campaign has just been launched. His slogan ? “You deserve Spain”.
"A trip to Spain is the best remedy for what we have been experiencing since the start of the pandemic"
declared, a few days ago, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism Maria Reyes Maroto. The AIREF (Independent Authority on Fiscal Responsibility) estimates that 8 to 11 million foreign tourists will come to sunbathe on the country's beaches this summer. Over the whole of 2021, a 50% drop in foreign attendance is hoped for by the government. "
The country cannot afford to relive last summer
”, pleaded the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés.
“
Confidence and health must accompany the tourist offer.
Spain must be a safe destination
”.
A great defender of the European health certificate, the country welcomed its implementation from July 1.
"It is a mechanism that will facilitate mobility, as well as the arrival and transit of travelers,"
said the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez.
