Spain weekly update on entry requirements from third countries [28 February 2022 – 6 March 2022]

The Ministry of Health of Spain has modified its list of risk countries on 28 February 2022. As usual, the list will be valid for a week —until the next revision on 6 March 2022.

While the list of high risk countries remains empty, the list of third countries that are not considered at risk currently includes Colombia, Indonesia, Rwanda, Peru, Qatar, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and China (plus the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and the territorial authority of Taiwan, which is not recognized as a separate country by some member states of the EU).

In the list of risk countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area, the French overseas department of Mayotte was added as an exception, but the rest of France remains as a risk country. Other countries in the list of EU/EEA risk countries are Austria, Italy, Latvia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Malta, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, and Ireland.

As usual, all travelers from all countries must fill out a Health Control Form and obtain a QR code to present it at the time of boarding and at health controls upon arrival in Spain, even those travelers who are in transit to other places. This must be done before departure and on two different websites depending on the mode of transport that the traveler will be using (plane or ferry). There are no special requirements if travelers arrive in Spain by land.

Recently though, Spain eased its travel restrictions to fully vaccinated people, who can now enter the Spanish territory with only a vaccination certificate or a recovery certificate. These certificates are not mandatory in children below 18 years old, although if the children are older than 12, they must present a negative PCR test taken up to 72 hours before arrival instead.

Children under 12 years old are exempt from exhibiting these certificates, but not the aforementioned Health Control Form.

As for the validity of the certificates, these must be verifiable through the EU gateway and at least the last of the three doses must be of a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the World Health Organization (WHO). For Spain, the vaccination schedule is not completed until the third dose, also known as booster shot.

EU citizens can present the EU Digital COVID Certificate instead, but they must make sure to reissue it/update it to reflect the administration of the booster shot between 14 and 270 days before traveling. Otherwise, it won’t be valid as a vaccination certificate in Spain.