Europe is open to visitors, but with country-by-country requirements

Europe is opening up to Americans and travelers from other countries after more than a year of restrictions due to COVID-19, in hopes of bringing tourists _ and their dollars _ back to the trattoria, landscapes and cultural treasures of the continent. . But they will have to to be patient to find out who can enter which country, how and when.

As the doors of the European Union open one by one to the outside world for the first time since March 2020, tourists will experience a patchwork of systems rather than a single borderless entertainment zone as member state governments have been reluctant to give up control of their borders during the pandemic.

Britain follows his own course after Brexit.

But the cozy atmosphere is not always reciprocal: the borders of the United States, for example, mainly follow closed to foreigners.

Here is an overview of the entry rules for some of the tourist destinations most popular in Europe. A word of warning: Although these are rules dictated by governments, travelers can suffer setbacks when airlines and railways try to figure them out.

France

If you are vaccinated, welcome to France. But only if you have received one of the four vaccines approved by the EU _ Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-University of Oxford, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. This is true for Americans, as long as they can present an official test certifying that they are immune, but not for other parts of the world, such as China and Russia, where other drugs are administered.

France’s borders officially reopened on Wednesday. Vaccinated visitors, both outside Europe and a handful of “green” countries, they must still present a negative PCR test carried out no later than 72 hours before, or a negative antigen test no later than 48 hours.

Unimmunized minors can enter with adults and if they are, but those over 11 will need to test negative.

The country banned the entry of tourists from 16 countries which fight large epidemics and disturbing variants, included in a red list where they are India, South Africa and Brazil.

Unvaccinated people from countries of the “orange list”, like the United States and Great Britain, they cannot travel for tourism and they can only enter for specific and compelling reasons.

Italy

Americans, the second largest group of foreign tourists the country receives, can travel from mid-May. But they have to make a 10 days of quarantine on arrival, unless they are part of one of the so-called “antiCOVID thefts”.

On these flights, passengers take a pre-flight and post-flight test and are required to complete whereabouts documents to facilitate tracking if necessary.

These flights from the United States began in December, and in May they were extended to Canada, Japan and United Arab Emirates.

Italy has also started to receive British and Israeli tourists As of last month, they no longer need a “vital” reason to enter and should not be confined as long as they show a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 48 hours before arrival.

This rule also applies to travelers from EU countries and those on flights where virus tests are performed.

Greece

Greece, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, began welcoming Americans in April and is already allowing entry from China, Britain and 20 other countries for non-essential travel.

Everyone must show a vaccination certificate or negative PCR and complete a location form detailing your projects in Greece. This directive expires on June 14, but could be extended.

Athens has long pushed the EU to adopt a common approachBut he didn’t wait for it to materialize. Since June 1, Greece, Germany and five other community partners have been using a COVID certificate for travelers, a few weeks before the program which begins on July 1 in the 27 member countries.

Spain

Spain began its summer tourism campaign on Monday by receiving vaccinated visitors from the United States and much of the world, as well as Europeans who can demonstrate that they are not infected.

Americans and most non-Europeans need a official vaccination certificate issued by a health authority, and in English. Spain accepts those inoculated with the four vaccines approved by the EU, in addition to the two chinese authorized by the World Health Organization, provided that the vaccination is completed at least two weeks before travel.

Arrivals from Brazil, South Africa and India they are suspended for now due to the high rate of infections there, and unvaccinated Americans and many other non-EU citizens will not be able to spend their holidays in Spain yet.

But there are exceptions for countries considered low risk, such as Great Britain, whose residents they no longer need a document sanitary. Community citizens must present proof of vaccination, a certificate that they have recently passed COVID-19, or a negative antigen or PCR test performed less than 48 hours before arriving in the country.

Britain

There are currently very few American tourists in Britain, if any. London established a color system, like those of a traffic light, which assesses the risk by country, and the United States is, as in many other European countries, in the “amber” list, which means that anyone who arrives from there must isolate themselves at home or in the place where they stay for 10 days.

UK and US airlines and airport operators are pushing to open a corridor to allow tourism to resume, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to address the issue when he meets Joe Biden. at the top of the G7 this week in England.

Additionally, anyone traveling between Britain and mainland Europe should be aware that in addition to isolation requirements for those leaving or entering UK soil, growing concern over the delta variant of the virus has led many other countries to impose special restrictions on them.

European Union

The bloc does not have a unified border or tourism policy against COVID, but he has been working for months a digital travel certificate set for people who have been vaccinated, who have had a recent screening test or who have recently overcome the disease. MEPs approved the initiative on Wednesday.

This free certificate, which will contain a QR code With advanced security features, it will allow travel between the nations of the bloc without the need to pass quarantines or additional tests for the coronavirus on arrival.

Various EU countries have already started using the system, including Spain, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark and Poland. Others should start applying it 1st of July.

It is mainly intended for European citizens, but Americans and elsewhere will be able to get it if they can convince the nation’s authorities that they are coming. that meet the requirements.

Associated Press journalists across Europe contributed to this report.

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