Spain has been a risk area since Sunday. Holidaymakers traveling to Germany from Mallorca, the Canary Islands or Madrid must present proof of vaccination, testing or recovery before departure. Uncomplicated entry is then no longer possible – and there are long waiting times and queues at the airport.
FOCUS Online advises: be at least two hours before departure at the airport.
What documents do returnees need – and what must be on them?
A digital vaccination pass, yellow vaccination card or vaccination confirmation in German or English are valid for vaccinated persons. Those who have recovered need their positive PCR test, which shows the date of the test and the name of the person tested.
Unvaccinated people and children aged six and over need a negative rapid antigen test, unless they have been vaccinated or have recovered. This must be carried out by a medical professional. A negative PCR test is also valid and must not be older than 72 hours.
Costs for a rapid antigen test in Spain? For a PCR test, doctors and authorities in Mallorca are not allowed to charge more than 75 euros from travelers. Rapid antigen tests may cost a maximum of 30 euros. There are many black sheep who offer rapid tests for 70 euros and more. Find out about the fees in advance so as not to experience any nasty surprises.
Important rule: The name on the test certificate, vaccination certificate or recovered document must be identical to the name on the ID and the ticket. If this is not the case, entry can be refused. The name, contact details and procedure of the test laboratory must also be listed.
Numbers are increasing, will the travel warning follow in two weeks?
Figures are published by the Spanish health authorities and the Center for Epidemiology (Centro Nacional de Epidemiología). The current 14-day incidence in Spain is 253.4 per 100,000. The 7-day incidence is again 199. In other words: the number of new infections is increasing at a high level. Spain is currently just barely past the 200 mark in the 7-day incidence. This value regulates whether vacation areas in Germany count as high incidence areas – or not.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the Federal Foreign Office declare travel destinations as high-incidence areas if the 7-day incidence is over 200. Because the number of new infections in Spain is increasing at a high level, individual regions could initially be declared as high-incidence areas. That would be fatal because travelers returning from these areas would then have to be quarantined under certain conditions.
It is unclear whether the RKI and the Federal Foreign Office will issue a travel warning for all of Spain or whether the popular travel destination will be declared a high incidence area. The reason is that the incidence varies.
In Barcelona, the 7-day incidence is currently 299.2 and the 14-day incidence is 595.6. In Mallorca, the 7-day incidence is 138.4 and the 14-day incidence is 235.9. The Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumers and Welfare publishes figures at regular intervals. This was last the case on July 8th. You can find the evaluations here
What happens if Spain is a “high incidence area” in a week?
Returning travelers should now be careful, keep track of numbers and inform themselves about travel warnings at regular intervals. If Spain is considered a high incidence area, the unvaccinated and children are particularly hard hit. You would then have to be in quarantine.
Before leaving, unvaccinated people should
- a negative PCR test before departure (within 72 hours before arrival) or
- conduct a quick antigen test before departure (within 48 hours of arrival).
Both proofs must be presented before departure. Also, travelers must fill out this form.
Unvaccinated people then have to go into a ten-day quarantine period after arrival. If the result is negative, it is possible to end the isolation with a negative test (rapid antigen test or PCR test) five days after entry at the earliest.
Vaccinated and convalescents do not have to be quarantined. You can enter from Spain with your proofs.
Should I cancel now?
There is no reason to cancel the planned trip. In addition, there is no explicit right to cancel for risk areas (“light risk”). Officials do not warn against traveling to Spain.
FOCUS Online says: Keep calm, don’t let this drive you crazy. At the airport, however, there can now be longer waiting times because individual documents have to be checked.
If you feel unsure, wait to cancel.
According to the legal regulations, travelers can in many cases cancel free of charge if “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” occur at the travel destination or in its immediate vicinity, which “significantly impair or make impossible” the travel or the transport of people to the destination.
The Foreign Office explains: “A travel warning is not a prerequisite for a free cancellation. However, it is a strong indication that the legal requirements are met.” Decisive for the possibility of a free travel cancellation are not travel warnings, but the legal question of whether extraordinary, unavoidable circumstances exist. This must be checked in each individual case.
Should I take out insurance when booking?
Due to the dynamic location, it is advisable to take out travel insurance. We generally advise against making bookings in high-risk areas, as the free cancellation right also expires here. Lawyer and consumer expert Roosbeh Karimi from GetRight advises in an interview with FOCUS Online to conclude a Travel cancellation insurance.
Karimi explains that providers differentiate between an annual policy that covers a specific amount per year and individual policies that are booked for a specific trip. Ideally, travelers should check whether the insurance is “suitable for pandemics” when booking and before taking out the policy. Anyone who has taken out outdated travel cancellation insurance should “update” the annual tariffs accordingly in order to also be able to make use of pandemic protection.
The Covid travel protection is particularly helpful when, for example, an airline refuses to board a passenger who has a fever and a hotelier or vacation rental owner denies entry to a guest with symptoms. Incidentally, this can also affect fully vaccinated and convalescent people, not just corona infected people.
Also one private foreign health insurance is worth it on vacation, recommends Sandra Klug from the Hamburg consumer center, for example. According to her, such a policy costs around ten euros a year.
The advantage of foreign health insurance: With it, vacationers do not have to pay the treatment costs themselves in the event of an emergency. In addition, the provider usually pays for a medically necessary return transport to Germany – which the statutory health insurance companies usually do not do.