Spain weekly update on entry requirements from third countries [6–12 December 2021]

The Ministry of Health of Spain has updated the list of risk countries and areas on December 6th, 2021.

From that day on, all third countries will be considered at risk except for Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, China (including the territorial authority of Taiwan and the special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong), Colombia, Indonesia, Kuwait, New Zealand, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay.

Spain now considers Jordan as a risk country

As you can see, Jordan is not on the list of exceptions anymore, which means that from now on, it will be considered at risk —at least until the list expires on 12 December 2021 at midnight. Then, the Ministry of Health of Spain will have to re-evaluate the COVID-19 situation in third countries and decide on which one “deserves” to be included or excluded from the list of risk countries. It all depends on each territory’s COVID-19 statistics and the newest EU Council’s recommendations.

The EU Council’s recommendations are not legally binding but Spain —as well as other Member States of the European Union— usually follows them. In fact, the decision of removing Jordan from the list of third countries considered “safe” comes from the latest EU Council’s recommendation of restoring travel restrictions to Jordan and Namibia.

This decision was based on data from the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) and the EEAS (European External Action Service), which was not favorable for these countries. The discussion of these data took place at an IPCR (Integrated Political Crisis Response) meeting in Brussels on November 29th, 2021. The decision was published on the EU Council’s official website on December 1st, 2021.

Other countries facing travel restrictions to Spain are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and The Netherlands. This is because the Spanish authorities include in the list of risk countries all red, dark red, orange, and grey areas, according to Council Recommendation (EU) 2020/1475 and Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/119.

Currently, all people coming to Spain from another country must complete a Health Control Form and obtain a QR code. Travelers must present the code before boarding and upon arrival in Spain unless they’re entering the country by land. Additionally, they must present the EU Digital COVID Certificate or any other valid document certifying vaccination against COVID-19, recovery status, or a negative diagnostic test.

From the end of November, there is also a list of high risk countries currently including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. For people coming from these countries, it is mandatory to present the QR code and a negative COVID-19 diagnostic test upon arrival in Spain independently of the traveler’s vaccination or recovery status.

This new requirement was implemented after the Omicron variant was found circulating in southern Africa on November 22nd, 2021.