Spain opens Monday to foreigners vaccinated against the coronavirus: to whom Argentines can go

Spain has reviewed the health requirements for entry into the country and, among other developments, will admit from Monday travelers who have vaccination and recovery certificates from the European Union and countries of the European Economic Area (EEA ). And it will also open to vaccinated tourists from countries outside of these blocks.

But there are no big changes when it comes to Argentina.

Argentines vaccinated with Russian vaccine Sputnik V will still not be admitted: Despite requests from the government of Vladimir Putin, this drug is still he was not authorized by the European Medicines Agency or by the World Health Organization.

And Spain specifies that it will only admit those who are inoculated with one of the approved vaccines. Between them they include that of AstraZeneca and those of the Chinese laboratories Sinopharm – which is applied in Argentina – and Sinovac, which the WHO approved for emergency use last Tuesday and which is mainly used in Chile.

As specified by the Spanish authorities, “the vaccination certificates issued by the competent authorities of the country of origin will be accepted as valid from 14 days after the date of administration of the last dose of the complete vaccination schedule”.

Some changes

The regulation, which comes into force on Monday, June 7, is new also that it will support the rapid antigenic tests approved by the European Union (EU) as a diagnostic certificate, with PCRs, so far the only ones accepted, and which are much more expensive.

As published this Saturday by the Official Journal of the State (BOE), the diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection accepted will be those of the molecular amplification of nucleic acids (NAAT), used to detect the presence ribonucleic acid (RNA).

And also the antigen tests included in the common list of tests for the rapid detection of antigens for Covid-19, published by the European Commission.

Certificates with a negative result issued within 48 hours before arrival in Spain will be accepted as valid and with regard to recovery certificates, the validity will end 180 days after the sample has been taken.

Any of these certificates It must be written in Spanish, English, French or German and, if it is not possible to obtain the original in one of these languages, the supporting document must be accompanied by a translation into Spanish carried out by an official body.

Free pass for some

If you come from areas of the EU / EEA not included in the Spanish Ministry of Health’s list of countries at risk, you will not need to present a diagnostic test or certificate of vaccination or immunity.

Likewise, if you are traveling to Spain for tourism from a country which is not part of the EU or the European Economic Area but which is included in the list of low incidence territories, excluded from the risk zone, you can enter without needing a diagnostic test or vaccination certificate nor immunity.

As the months of July and August approach, Spain is trying to reactivate tourism, one of the main engines of its economy, after a disastrous year because of the pandemic of coronavirus.

Mandatory form

The text of the Official Journal of Spain recalled that “Royal Decree-Law 8/2021, of May 4, establishes that travel agencies, tour operators and air or sea transport companies” or any other agent that sells plane or sea tickets, “they must inform passengers, at the start of the ticket sales process to Spain, of all health control measures and the consequences of non-compliance”.

In particular, the text “will report the obligation to present the QR code generated by Spain Travel Health before shipment and the consequences of non-compliance or falsification ”.

To get this code, you must complete a form through the website www.spth.gob.es or the Spain Travel Health (SpTH) mobile application.

All passengers arriving in Spain as their final destination, “must undergo a health check on their arrival at the first point of entry”, adds the official decree. The temperature of the travelers will be taken and their general condition will be checked.

Source: EFE

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