The police are now waiting at the airport for those returning from Mallorca and other foreign holiday areas: test control. Since the night of Tuesday, the mandatory test for travelers returning to Germany has been in effect. But that could soon become a big problem on the Spanish holiday island: According to industry experts, around 40,000 Germans will spend their Easter holidays on Mallorca this year as well. But the test capacities are far too tight for that, says a doctor at a test station on site.
Doctors: “Can do a maximum of 100 tests a day”
“We manage a maximum of 100 tests a day here, but of course not the thousands that are needed every day,” says Andreas Leonhard, a doctor from the German Medical Center on Mallorca “Picture” Newspaper. If thousands of holidaymakers want to fly home on Easter Monday, the test capacities could be exhausted, the doctor fears. “How these test quantities are to be managed at the test centers on Easter Monday is a mystery to me,” says the German doctor. “From a purely mathematical point of view, it could be particularly tight on Easter Monday”.
His colleague Ulrich Esser assumes that all Germans can be tested “if they make an appointment in good time”. In no case should you wait until the day before your return trip. The specialist center is fully booked until April 11th.
On Tuesday, the mandatory test on Mallorca started at least largely smoothly, reported the German Press Agency. According to official information, at least 25 flights to Germany were on the program. In front of the new airport test center, which is quite inconspicuous in the departure area and has been in operation since last week, there was still only a small queue in the morning. There were a maximum of ten returnees there.
Vacationers use private clinics
Since the website of the provider Eurofins Megalab had collapsed in view of the large crowd in the days before, chaos was feared on the first day at the airport. But it was also progressing relatively quickly because some vacationers had themselves tested in private clinics before the day of departure. “Everything went smoothly with the appointment,” says a young couple. Other vacationers report to the “Mallorca Newspaper”that the clinic did not send the result by email and that the holidaymakers had to collect the evidence of the negative test themselves on site.
The private clinics already seem to be overloaded: According to research by the “Mallorca Zeitung”, they were not ready for further information on Tuesday morning. “We’re barely catching up with the tests at the moment, so please come back later,” said one employee. In another clinic if the phone is not picked up in the first place, the hospital spokeswoman is prevented from going elsewhere.
Spanish trouble at the airport
Another vacationer has to fall back on such a date, reports the “Bild”. “It’s been my turn to book a test online for days, it just doesn’t work. Even on the new ‘Trust One’ app – no chance! Now I have to look for a clinic or a doctor where I can hopefully make a test appointment It costs twice as much, but what should I do? “complained the traveler to the newspaper.
A vacationer complained to the German press agency that the information about the mandatory test was not passed on by the tour operator at all: “Neither the tour operator nor the airline gave me any notice. I spent two days looking for where I could be tested.” Another is outraged by the airline’s coordination: “I only have the test result in Spanish, now the airline doesn’t want to take me with them,” one passenger told the “Mallorca Newspaper”. After lengthy discussions, the vacationer and his family were allowed to travel home.
40,000 Germans are expected over Easter
In mid-March, bookings for flights to Mallorca skyrocketed when Germany lifted the quarantine requirement when returning from the Balearic Islands. At the weekend alone, 129 planes from Germany landed in Palma. Numerous flights with German vacationers are also expected on the Spanish island for the next few days, industry experts are expecting 40,000 vacationers over the Easter holidays.
The test obligation for vacationers, which has been in force since Tuesday, is initially to apply up to and including May 12th. Anyone who cannot provide the airline with evidence of a negative result is not allowed to board the aircraft. And those who test positive have to stay in the holiday area and quarantine in a hotel. For eleven people, their stay in Mallorca ended in a converted hotel in the heart of Palma.