COVID PCR requirements in Spain

[Stephanie Martin]

Hi all,
I'm leaving for the Camino in slightly over a week now. I'll be flying to Barcelona first before making my way to St. Jean. Does anyone know the current PCR requirements to enter Spain? Will I need to do a PCR test or has this measure been removed? Do they do checks at the airport for these? Thank you.

Cheers,
Stephanie

 

[henrythedog]

You’re from NZ?

Do you have a NZ digital covid vaccination certificate showing that you’ve had a ‘booster’?*

If do; you just need that certificate in electronic or paper form. No test, no travel health form. The NZ certificate is recognised by the EU.

*(That’s a second dose if your original vaccine was single-dose; or a third dose if your original vaccine was two-dose?

If you don’t meet the criteria above it starts to get more complicated.

I’d suggest you refer to the official source, start here:

Spain Travel Health

www.spth.gob.es

As opposed to relying on some random bloke on the internet.

 

[Eamonrodden]

Hi all,
I'm leaving for the Camino in slightly over a week now. I'll be flying to Barcelona first before making my way to St. Jean. Does anyone know the current PCR requirements to enter Spain? Will I need to do a PCR test or has this measure been removed? Do they do checks at the airport for these? Thank you.

Cheers,
Stephanie

Get the Spanish health app, it is pretty simple after that. You need to fill in the form in the 48 hours before you arrive. Get a pass . I have done in twice this year. I carry the evidence of vaccination ( from Australia) but have not been ask to show that.
Good luck

 

[henrythedog]

Get the Spanish health app, it is pretty simple after that. You need to fill in the form in the 48 hours before you arrive. Get a pass . I have done in twice this year. I carry the evidence of vaccination ( from Australia) but have not been ask to show that.
Good luck

Regrettably Aussies still have to do that (although it’s a simple enough process); kiwis and other nationalities whose domestic covid vaccination certification has been recognised by the EU; do not.

 

[jimsantiago]

According to the information at https://www.spth.gob.es/

“If you do not have the EU Digital COVID Certificate or equivalent, you must complete the SpTH Health Control Form, manually entering the details of your vaccination, recovery or diagnostic test certificate.”

That sentence could be interpreted differently, depending on a person’s English reading comprehension.

From what I can glean from the site referenced above, and Sanidad.gob, it would seem that one of three things are currently required to enter Spain from a non-EU country.

1) Vaccination no more than 270 days old
2) PCR negative test no more than 72 hours prior
3) Certificate of recovery from previous infection

This is corroborated by the US Embassy in Spain (https://es.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/), which states the following very explicitly. It would make sense that Spain has similar requirements for other non EU countries, since they no longer seem to make distinctions between countries of origin that are not part of the EU.

“U.S. citizens can travel from the United States to Spain if they show that they are vaccinated against COVID-19, or have a recovery certificate , or show a negative diagnostic test result (NAAT or RAT) performed either within 72hours prior to departure to Spain for a NAAT (e.g. – PCR test) or within 24 hours prior to departure to Spain for a RAT (e.g. – rapid antigen test).”

 

[C clearly]

Generally what you write is correct except for one important detail. I am not sure if you are asking a question or just offering a summary of requirements, but this error is significant:

Vaccination no more than 270 days old

Your vaccination can certainly be more than 270 days old. If you had the first two (for Pfizer or Moderna) shots, over 270 days ago, you must have had a booster shot. The booster shot does not expire. There is no requirement for a second booster.

 

[trecile]

There is no requirement for a second booster.

At the present time.

 

[RobertS26]

Don't forget to check the boarding requirements of airline you are using.

I had a recent experience traveling to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from Seattle, Washington on Qatar Airways that could have gone very bad if I had not been very cautious. Having flown on Ethiopian Airways to Zimbabwe in August of 2021, and May of 2022, I knew that Zimbabwe DID NOT require a PCR test to enter the country. Five days before my flight to Zimbabwe, Qatar Airways sent me an email reminding me that I needed a PCR to enter Zimbabwe. Surprised, I rechecked Zimbabwe entry requirements. Still no PCR required to enter Zimbabwe. Then I went to Qatar Airways website. It clearly stated that Zimbabwe needed a PCR test. Qatar Airways was clearly wrong.

But . . . I wanted to board my flight and suspected that Qatar Airways would refuse boarding at Seattle without it, so I got one. When I checked in for my flight at Seattle, I was required by Qatar Airways to have a negative PCR test because "Zimbabwe required it." Which again, was not true.

The person in line behind me did not have a PCR test and was denied boarding.

So, moral of the story is, you need to check the requirements of your final destination, all airports along the way, and the airlines involved.

 

[jimsantiago]

Don't forget to check the boarding requirements of airline you are using.

I had a recent experience traveling to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from Seattle, Washington on Qatar Airways that could have gone very bad if I had not done my research. Having flown on Ethiopian Airways to Zimbabwe in August of 2021, and May of 2022, I knew that Zimbabwe DID NOT require a PCR test to enter the country. Five days before my flight to Zimbabwe, Qatar Airways sent me an email reminding me that I needed a PCR to enter Zimbabwe. Surprised, I rechecked Zimbabwe entry requirements. Still no PCR required to enter Zimbabwe. Qatar Airways was wrong.

But . . . I wanted to board my flight and suspected that Qatar Airways would refuse boarding at Seattle without it, so I got one. When I checked in for my flight at Seattle, I was required by Qatar Airways to have a negative PCR test because "Zimbabwe required it." Which again, was not true.

The person in line behind me did not have a PCR test and they were denied their boarding pass.

So,

moral of the story is, you need to check the requirements of your final destination, all airports along the way, and the airlines involved.

Yes, this is one of the reasons I mentioned a concern over the explicitness of the rules posted online. When room is left for ambiguity, airline officials may interpret things in unexpected or incorrect ways. But more likely, they are just following what they’ve been told, whether it is correct or not.

It seems like the current rules do not require vaccination at all, as long as you show negative in a PCR test done less than 72 hours before departure.