- People who enter Spain from Friday, this week, must be confined to their homes for 14 days and can only go out to go to the doctors or buy food
- The government plans to follow the lead of France, Germany and China and quarantine tourists
Following on from the vast majority of countries in the world, from next Friday, May 15 all people entering Spain will have to remain in quarantine for 14 days.
This is introduced by a provision signed by the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa which is in this Tuesday’s Official State Gazette.
The BOE states that “during the quarantine period, people must remain in their home or accommodation, and must limit their travel for the following activities.” They will be allowed to go out for “the acquisition of food, pharmaceuticals and basic necessities, assistance from health centres, services and establishments and for reasons of force majeure or situations of need.”
Related: Spain extends travel restrictions on non-essential travel for people travelling to Spanish territory
On arriving in Spain, all persons from abroad will be identified by the health authorities. The BOE adds that “the health authorities may contact the people in quarantine to monitor them.” In the event of the appearance of symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress, general discomfort or other symptoms of a suspected case of COVID-19, “quarantined persons should contact the health services by telephone using the numbers enabled by the autonomous communities, indicating that they are in quarantine after arriving from abroad ”.
The Salvador Illa provision also requires “travel agencies, tour operators and transport companies” to “inform travellers of these measures during the ticket sales process if they are destined for Spanish territory.”
Impact on tourism
The measure, which France, Germany and China have previously taken, will undoubtedly have a major impact on tourism, one of the main engines of the Spanish economy. The obligation to carry out this quarantine will mean that millions of visitors who don’t have their own property in Spain will not visiting us due to the imposition of having to pay for accommodation for 14 days without being able to leave it.
In Spain two months ago, the entry of everyone by air and sea was allowed without any type of restriction or sanitary control. At the time Interior only re-established land borders between Spain, Portugal and France in order to limit mobility to essential services.
