Until now, only those who have a vaccination certificate or a certificate of recovery from Covid-19 (date no more than 180 days before) are accepted. However, the official government bulletin has expanded the range of eligible travelers from the UK to include people aged 12 and over who have taken the test before departure. Cheap, fast side-by-side tests performed 24 hours before the trip to Spain will be accepted. For vaccinated travelers, the Spanish travel agency in London says: “If more than 270 days have elapsed since the final dose, a certification of booster vaccination is also required, except for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.” In 2019, Spain received 18.1 million British visitors – an average of 50,000 arrivals per day The number of travelers collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic. In early 2022, Spain imposed tough demands – insisting that all arrivals aged 12 and over were fully vaccinated. For thousands of British families, this made the February holiday break impossible. Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of Advantage Travel Partnership, described the Spanish move as “a step in the right direction”. It is followed by France – the second most popular nation for British holidaymakers – which made a similar move a week ago. Many European countries seem to be engaging in a “competitive opening” – seeking to ease travel restrictions to attract tourists back.
