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Can I cancel my trip to Spain now?

2021-07-26T11:54:23.641Z


Spain becomes a high incidence area. But many have already booked their vacation there. Can you now cancel your trip without cancellation fees? From a legal point of view, this question is still uncharted territory.


Spain becomes a high incidence area.

But many have already booked their vacation there.

Can you now cancel your trip without cancellation fees?

From a legal point of view, this question is still uncharted territory.

Hanover / Berlin - The federal government is classifying Spain and the Netherlands as high-incidence areas of corona from Tuesday due to the high number of infections.

Many people have been looking forward to their vacation in Mallorca, the Canary Islands or on the Costa Blanca.

Does this upgrade give you the right to cancel the booked package tour without cancellation fees - if you want to?

The short answer: it may well be possible.

But there has not yet been a decision by the highest court.

When can I cancel a package tour free of charge?

In general, the following applies: The trip must be significantly impaired by so-called unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances.

This is what the package travel law applicable in Germany provides.

When this is the case, however, it is not always possible to say exactly.

A travel warning from the Foreign Office is a strong indicator of extraordinary circumstances.

Before the pandemic, the warning from the federal government de facto meant a free cancellation right.

But when every corona risk area received a travel warning for a long time, this automatism changed.

In the meantime, it also depends on whether the travel warning already existed at the time of booking.

In the opinion of some courts, this does not necessarily result in a free right of withdrawal.

Because the risk was known from the start.

The European Consumer Center Germany (EVZ) in Kehl also shares this view.

What does that mean in concrete terms for Spain?

The travel warning is an indication of extraordinary circumstances, but not the only one.

Other factors can also play a role.

According to the EVZ, the unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances required by law must exist objectively and also exist at the time of the trip.

The on-site situation is decisive.

- First factor: A travel warning is now formally issued again for Spain.

The warnings had been lifted for simple risk areas, but not for high incidence areas.

- Second factor: Unvaccinated holidaymakers must be in quarantine for at least five days when they return home from a high-risk area, according to the current entry regulations of the federal government.

The necessary second vaccination to avoid this scenario can usually not simply be brought forward.

And children under the age of twelve cannot be vaccinated anyway.

In the opinion of the EVZ, however, this point should not be included in the assessment because the quarantine is only due at home.

But there are also lawyers who see an inevitable quarantine as a disruption of the business basis according to Section 313 of the German Civil Code.

It remains to be seen how the courts will evaluate this.

- Third factor: In view of the high number of cases in Spain, there is a higher risk of corona infection than a few weeks ago.

In addition, the authorities are reintroducing stricter measures.

"These are all factors that vacationers did not have to expect when booking their trip to Spain," says travel lawyer Paul Degott from Hanover.

As a tour operator, referring to the known danger from Corona is not enough in his opinion.

Degott's assessment is therefore: "Package holidaymakers have a rather good chance of being able to withdraw from their trip free of charge."

The EVZ sees it in a similar way: "From our point of view, travelers can generally cancel imminent package tours to countries for which a travel warning has been issued, citing exceptional circumstances." Imminent here means: approximately four weeks before the start of the journey.

The travel industry assesses it differently: "From the perspective of the German Travel Association, upgrading a destination area to a high-incidence area does not automatically entitle you to free cancellation," explains DRV spokeswoman Kerstin Heinen, referring to the fact that a supreme court judgment has not been issued.

"Basically, tour operators try to find individual, customer-oriented solutions," she adds.

What applies to individual tourists?

Package travel law does not apply to those who have booked their own vacation.

Specifically, this means: As long as the booked flight is taking place, there is no free right of withdrawal.

Travelers can only make use of the fee-free rebooking that most airlines offer.

The following applies to accommodations: Anyone who has booked a hotel with a short-term cancellation option can use this option.

Otherwise, the cancellation fees apply as contractually agreed.

The same goes for vacation rentals.

As long as the accommodation is open and accessible, the classification of a country as a high-risk area does not result in a free cancellation right.

Each individual traveler must therefore decide independently whether to cancel, postpone or start the trip - and accept the possible financial consequences of this decision.

dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-07-26

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