Current Rules and Restrictions for Tourists

[Felipe Geraldo]

For some reason the Guardia Civil took a particular interest In my hold baggage and scanned it before being let out of the airport, seemingly random and 2 other travelling groups had the same treatment

We had that happen to us too when we landed (from Luton) on Saturday 26th June. Two of our bags had been taken off the carousel by Guardia Civil. The officer asked to see our passports, took some notes and then that was that. Did not have to open the bags, no further questions asked. No idea what that was about or what they could possibly achieve with what they did? Just bizarre.

Otherwise very straight forward through passport control. I'm Norwegian - I notice that they don't stamp my wife's passport (British) when she's travelling with me. Health forms scanned, though no temperature check was carried out on us.

The only "drama" during our trip was a family that was denied boarding as they hadn't filled in the health declaration forms. They tried doing it on their mobile phone in the boarding area but for some reason failed to complete it - I overheard the crew onboard talking about it just before departure. Such a shame, they were travelling with a very young child too. That said they really should have been aware of this requirement - it's communicated several times during and after booking the tickets.

I can only conclude they are random checks. They are taking more interest in passports now, and my passport reveals a fairly chequered travel history to some dodgy places but they cannot match up luggage to passports at that stage surely.

Anyway thought I would share some experiences of my return flight on 3/7. Checked in online but at bag drop my negative COVID test certificate (antigen test obtained from the clinic in caleta, forget the name up the road from the Step Inn) and the QR code from the passenger locator form done on the gov.uk website were checked as well as the usual. Just ahead of me were a family that had not done this and were frantically trying to complete it, unfortunately I expect they could not board as it is not a 2 minute job and I was cutting it a bit fine myself timewise. At the gate, everything checked, passport, boarding pass, test certificate and locator form, checking that the passport number corresponds on all documents.

According to the flight crew 61 people had checked in however I guess slightly less ended up boarding. Unfortunately the flight was diverted to Porto due to a medical incident, I wont say anything more about that since it wouldn't be appropriate, except to say it was handled well by the flight crew and the total delay was an hour so not bad.

In Manchester, apart from the usual passport control, absolutely no checks whatsoever. I am currently on day 2 of my 10 day quarantine period and as expected I have been called each day by T&T and they just go through a few standard statements after asking me to confirm my name (they ask "am i speaking to .....") and year of birth.

I'm hoping to return later on in the year so will be keeping a keen eye on the situation over there but in the meantime am very glad I got to go over and am appreciative of everyone on the fourm for their advice and continued contributions.

[Gone Fishing]

ANOTHER CHANGE - from 1st July all visitors to Spain from the UK will need to  to be fully vaccinated or have a PCR test to enter Spain due to the increase in cases of the Delta variant in the UK.

If you are travelling from the UK and can prove you have been fully vaccinated with an official digital or printed certificate, you can enter with the QR code from your locator form.

If you haven’t been fully vaccinated you will need to also produce a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours of landing in Spain and its territories, including the Canary and Balearic Islands.

This measure, along with proof of recovering from the virus in the last 6 months, is the same required by Europeans to travel around the EUwhich also comes into effect on July 1st.
https://english.elpais.com/society/2021-...nated.html

We're planning on coming over in October and noticed Steve's comment re. vaccination certificates.

Needed to register and download the NHS app which includes taking a photo of your passport (photo pages) and then scanning your face into your mobile phone / device.
This sounds more complicated than it is, as there are step by step instructions throughout the procedure. It then takes up to 24 hours to verify you and grant you access.

Start the procedure to access your COVID-19 vaccination status here:   https://www.gov.uk/guidance/demonstratin...-19-status

Edit: In fact since starting to type this message, my ID has been approved and I now have access to my vaccination records.

BE WARNED: The QR codes (1 for each vaccination?) which are generated when you access your vaccination records expires after 30 days and you would need to log in again to generate an up to date QR code if you plan to travel in 30 days or more.

[Pete Garyga]

You can also request a letter confirming the vaccine status here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviru...ss-letter/
Apparently some countries want the paper version as evidence but I think Spain is happy with the App.
The letter took a couple of days to arrive from filling in the form, we both received two identical letters