Spain to Welcome International Travelers with COVID-19 Vaccine or Negative Test Starting in June
Getty Madrid, Spain
Spain is aiming to open its borders this summer to eligible international travelers.
Fernando Valdes Verelst, the country's Secretary of State of Tourism, announced this week that Spain will allow tourists to visit starting in June, according to multiple outlets. Visitors must show proof that they received the COVID-19 vaccine, recently tested negative for the virus or recently recovered from the virus.
"Spain will be ready in June to tell all travelers worldwide that you can visit us with certainty," Valdes Verelst said during a panel discussion at the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) Global Summit in Cancun, Mexico.
According to the reports, Spain will be taking part in a pilot digital certificate scheme in May and implementing it in June for when tourist arrivals resume. The scheme, per Valdes Verelst, would prove "fundamental to offering travelers certainty."
Spain is currently on the no-travel list for many countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S has issued a Level 4 travel advisory for the European country, while the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention (CDC) has also issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Spain, according to The Guardian.
As of Wednesday, Spain has reported over 3.4 million COVID-19 cases and over 77,000 deaths, per the New York Times' coronavirus database. Reports state that at least 4,994,667 vaccine doses have been administered in the country, with at least 4,020,945 people already receiving both doses.
According to The Guardian, Spain's government has said it is aiming to vaccinate 70 percent of the population by the end of the summer.
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News of Spain's international travel updates comes as the European Union reportedly plans to allow American tourists who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to visit this summer.
The three vaccines used in the U.S. — Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson — have also been approved in Europe, which strengthens the likelihood of trans-Atlantic leisure travel being restored by the European Commission, the executive branch of the E.U.
"The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines," Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told the Times. "This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union."
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This month, President Joe Biden reached his goal of having 200 million vaccinations administered in his first 100 days in office, after surpassing the original goal of 100 million doses last month.
The milestone came shortly after all adults in the U.S. became eligible for the vaccine. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that fully vaccinated individuals can travel safely within the U.S. without having to quarantine or be tested.
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