Spain weekly update on entry requirements from third countries [30 December 2021 – 5 January 2022]

The Ministry of Health of Spain has uploaded the list of third countries and other areas considered at risk coming into effect on December 30th, 2021.

As usual, all third countries are considered at risk except for those listed in Annex I of EU Council Recommendation 2020/912, which introduces exceptions to non-essential travel restrictions in the European Union through external borders.

The third countries that are currently exempt from travel restrictions are:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Bahrain
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Indonesia
• Kuwait
• New Zealand
• Peru
• Qatar
• Rwanda
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• United Arab Emirates
• Uruguay
• China (including the Special Administrative Regions of Macao and Hong Kong, and the special territorial authority of Taiwan).

These areas are considered sufficiently safe,  in terms of their sanitary situation, for their people to travel to Spain without special requirements to enter the country.

Travel restrictions for EU/EEA countries

In the European Union and the European Economic Area, countries and regions classified as dark red, red, orange, and grey areas by the Council Recommendation 2020/1475 and its subsequent amendments are considered at risk by the Ministry of Health of Spain.

These areas are Austria, Cyprus, Italy, Belgium, Latvia, Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Malta, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Portugal, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

In Romania, only the regions of Bucureşti-Ilfov, Centru, Nord-Est, Nord-Vest, Sud-Est, Sud-Muntenia, and Vest are considered at risk.

Special rules for the United Kingdom

The Spanish authorities have not lifted the special travel restrictions for people coming to Spain from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

The special rules came into effect on December 1st, 2021, after the Embassy of Spain in the United Kingdom announced that full vaccination would be an unskippable condition for people traveling from the UK to Spain for non-essential reasons.

This decision was made in the middle of the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK, which is now considered an area of variants of concern by Germany and other countries due to the alarming infection rates and presence of Omicron in British territory.

High risk countries

In Spain, high risk countries are those with an active circulation of a variant of concern, being Omicron the last relevant variant of COVID-19.

The Omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa in November 2021. Since then, South Africa and its neighboring countries have been included in Spain’s list of high risk countries.

The full list of high risk countries includes South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland/Eswatini, as well as the landlocked area of Malawi.

Due to the potential risk for public health, people coming from these countries are obliged to present a COVID-19 diagnostic test certificate with a negative result in order to enter Spain, no matter if they’ve been fully vaccinated and can prove it or if they have a recovery certificate.