What a helpful resource this forum is. My family group of 11 will finish our Camino and walk into Santiago from Padron on 3/20/2022. Many of us have flights leaving the next day 3/21/22. Can anyone recommend a testing facility in Santiago that could provide quick results for us? We are all flying back to the US on different airlines and routes. I'm a little nervous about what time we might arrive in Santiago, and still find a testing facility that can see us and give quick results. And getting my Compostela would be nice to stuff in there too. Yes, staying an extra day might be necessary, but right now I wondering about testing facilities for us to return to the US. Thank you!
P.S. How much time would the walk from Padron to Santiago take?
Hi, Marfurta, Welcome to the forum. Yes we are a helpful bunch, at least we try to be!
Here is a thread with a lot of information about test sites in Santiago.
If you are worried about timing, you might want to consider getting the test in Padrón. I see that this lab has afternoon hours from 6-8:15 pm. You could email or call them. Since you get the results via email, it won’t matter that you will might not be there when the results come in.
El portal de las empresas en la Comarca del Sar y ayuntamientos cercanos. Promociones, sorteos, ofertas, y muchas cosas más.
www.padronvirtual.com
PadrĂłn to Santiago is about 24 km, pretty flat and not difficult, so you should be able to arrive in time to do the test in Santiago as well. Though you would have to make sure about how long the results take to be transmitted. I had an antigen test in Portugal in November and it took less than an hour for the results to be in my inbox.
I have taken a self-test in Santiago. It was a little complicated to do with just a phone. It took many tries to make the connection to start the test. Once I got connected to someone, the wifi connection was disrupted for a minute or so, but the technician didn’t seem to mind and validated the results. The instructions tell you that the test will be invalidated if the connection is broken, because that means no one is watching to make sure the sample isn’t tampered with. Not that I would have known how to do that of course! The other hassle factor is that you have to carry the test with you on the walk. I had gotten mine from another pilgrim who had an extra one, but he had been lugging them around in a plastic box for his whole camino.
Labs all over Spain and Portugal do these tests routinely and have their systems programmed to fill in all the information needed by the authorities when you travel.
Good luck with this! Buen camino, Laurie