How to travel between Spain and the rest of the EU: New rules explained

CHANGES made to travel and entry requirements within the European Union have come into force from today (Tuesday, February 1) and, for the first time in nearly two years, are now streamlined across the bloc independently of the pandemic situation in individual countries.

As a general rule, quarantine is no longer a set requirement unless a traveller tests positive for Covid, and the confusion involved in having to look up what to do before setting off on holiday or to see family and friends should now be eliminated.

Whether travelling into Spain from one of the other 26 member States, or to Spain from one of these – not including the UK, which ceased to be a part of the EU at the end of the 'transition period' in January 2021 – the new system operates as follows.

Your 'Covid passport' – now a key travel document

If you have not done so already, you will need to download your 'Covid certificate' which shows you have been fully vaccinated, from your regional health authority website (for instructions on how to do so, depending upon where you live, check out our article here). 

Again, depending upon where in Spain you live, you may have already had to do this just to be able to enter a bar or restaurant, even just to go for a coffee on an outside terrace; in the Comunidad Valenciana, scanning these at the entrance remains a requirement, although in some regions, such as Madrid, Extremadura and the two Castillas, it has never been obligatory.

Once your certificate is downloaded – in PDF format – you can either keep it on a mobile phone or tablet for the QR code to be scanned (it works with a cracked or dirty screen, too), or print it off and use the paper copy, or both.

From January 25, having an up-to-date 'Covid passport' has been enough to allow you to travel between EU countries without needing to take a test or quarantine, irrespective of which country you're entering or coming from, or the level of contagion therein. The 'traffic light system' was finally axed – due to the onset of the the Omicron variant, which a third jab is thought to provide extra protection against, practically the whole of the EU is on 'dark red', but contagion rates do not necessarily now translate to hospital admissions, serious illness or death – largely thanks to the high percentage of the population's having been vaccinated.

What if I don't have a 'Covid passport'?

Although the simple answer to this is to simply get vaccinated so you can have one, isolated cases of people who cannot have the jab are known – if, for example, you suffer an anaphylactic shock reaction to vaccines in general, which you would already be aware of as we all have a series of immunisations in childhood and early adulthood as standard; also, if you are a brand-new resident in an EU country and not yet on the public health system, having come from a country where the vaccine roll-out is not widespread.

Where this is the case, you need to take a test before travel, and show proof of a negative result prior to boarding a plane or ship, and upon entry to your country of destination.

Are there any special requirements for the tests, such as timescales?

A negative test result, either in paper or digital format, must include at the very least your full name, date of the test, country of test, and type involved.

PCR tests are considered the 'gold standard' for Covid diagnosis, since they are reliable, thorough and give detailed information as to the nature of the virus affecting you, but they are expensive – ranging from around €60 to €250, depending upon which country you have it in and which clinic you use.

But if you know you won't have time at the last minute before setting off on your travels, these are the most practical, as a test only needs to be taken within the 72 hours before your arrival.

Antigen tests are less detailed, designed mainly to be used by those who merely want to 'prove they are negative' for their own or others' peace of mind, but are also valid for travel – and much cheaper, with Spain's government having capped their price at €2.94 and other EU member States retailing them at between €2 and €10.

They give faster results, typically within 10 to 30 minutes, and can be purchased over the counter in a high-street pharmacy.

The downside to using an antigen test for travel outside your country of origin is that, anywhere in the EU, they have to be taken less than 24 hours before your arrival, which could mean a frantic rush to get one in between packing and heading to the airport.

Until now, travellers could have an antigen test up to 48 hours before arrival, but the EU has now reduced their validity and all member States, including Spain, have now incorporated the change into national law.

Vaccines don't work forever – when does my 'Covid passport' expire?

One of the changes introduced from today is that 'Covid certificates' do, indeed, carry an expiry date – nine calendar months after your second vaccine dose.

Effectively, therefore, if you had your second jab on, say, July 20, you will need an updated 'Covid passport' from April 20 onwards.

It is very likely, though, that if you are in Spain at least, you will have had your third jab long before this, as the EU has urged all member States to administer these to the adult population.

Once you have had your third dose, you should go back onto your regional health authority website to download another 'Covid certificate'.

They still haven't summoned me for my third dose...

Some confusion has arisen over the third Covid jab – for the first two, members of the public were summoned to a given place on a specific date and time, individually notified by text message to the mobile telephone number they have on their health service records, with the type of vaccine they were being offered included in the standard communication.

Then, all they had to do was go to the venue with their SIP, or health service, card, and queue.

For everyone eligible for a winter 'flu jab – healthy adults aged 65 and over, or anyone of any age with a chronic or delicate physical health condition – have automatically been given a third Covid vaccine dose at the same time.

But messages are not always being sent out to 'call up' the rest of the population for their third injections, meaning many who could be having them have not, as they are waiting for their phones to beep.

If you have gone more than three months since your second jab, contact your local health centre or, if your 'vaccine station' from last year is still in place, pop over and speak to them, to find out whether your age group is now being jabbed, and what to do.

In some cases, you may well be booked in there and then.

Spain's health authority, based upon research at EU level, recently opted to extend the timescale between second and third dose to five months, rather than the previous three; from a travel point of view, though, you would still have an extra four months before your 'Covid passport' expired.

What if my 'Covid certificate' expires before the five-month period is up, and I've had Covid since my second jab?

Health minister Carolina Darías says the five-month time lapse is purely a 'recommendation', meaning you can have your third dose before that if you need to travel within the EU and your certificate will not be valid for that length of time.

Even though the 'Covid passport' is valid for nine months from the second jab, and the third is given after five months, a certificate can still end up going out of date if you have had Covid, given that a five-month gap is normally required between testing positive and having another dose.

Carolina Darías assures, though, that this time period is also a recommendation rather than a rule, and third jabs can be given at any time from four weeks after the date of a positive test, safely and without losing their effect.

So, if your 'Covid certificate' is due to become out of date and you need to travel, as long as at least four weeks have elapsed since you tested positive for the virus, you can still have a booster enabling you to update your document for it to be valid for entry to another EU member State.

What happens with my 'Covid certificate' if I've had the one-dose Janssen injection, or I've only had one dose because I've had the virus?

One of the reasons for the changes to travel rules is due to problems faced by single-dose tourists, who were finding their 'Covid passports' were not being accepted upon entry to other countries.

If you have had Covid within the past six months, you may only have been given one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna formula, as recovering from the virus would have left you with temporary antibodies providing short-term immunity; likewise, the Janssen formula only needs one rather than two injections, meaning it has often been used for people who spend a lot of time on the road outside of Spain and could not guarantee they would be available in time for a second Pfizer or Moderna jab.

Spain's health authorities stressed, at the end of last year, that anyone in this situation and who was concerned about being denied entry to a country due to only having had one jab could, if they wished, get a booster 'just for the paperwork' – it is perfectly safe for them to have it, but has not been routine practice as it was considered doing so would not be cost-effective for the health service, as it would not generate any real level of extra immunity.

Now, though, from today, all EU countries recognise and accept for entry a 'Covid passport' which shows the traveller has had a single-dose Janssen jab, or has only had one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna due to having become infected with, and recovered from, the virus.

The same expiry date applies, though: Nine months after your sole injection, the 'Covid certificate' ceases to be valid, so you need to make sure you have had a second, or booster, injection before planning any travel.

Those who have had just one Pfizer or Moderna vaccine dose but who have never been infected with Covid will not be able to travel without a test; also, their immunity to the virus will be very limited, so they should arrange to get a follow-up jab right away.

I didn't go for my vaccine appointment because I wasn't sure about it. I guess I've missed out and can never go abroad again without a test?

Health centres and, where they are still in place, 'vaccine stations', are still giving out the very first doses to those who initially decided not to and who have now changed their minds – nobody has 'missed their chance', and a simple call or visit to their nearest health centre will be enough to remedy the situation.

Now that more than nine in 10 residents in Spain aged 12 and over have had a Pfizer, Moderna or Janssen vaccine, and no cases of life-threatening or life-limiting side-effects have been reported in any age group or health condition, the proof is out there that these formulae are perfectly safe.

Side-effects are actually a welcome aspect of vaccines, as they are a sign your immune system is working to build up the required defences, but those you are likely to suffer are temporary and bearable – typically sweating or burning, dizziness, body aches and general 'flu-like symptoms, which may lead to anything from a day to a week off work – and a high number of vaccinated people say they have never had any reactions at all.

The very nature of vaccines is that any 'damage' appears almost immediately, within days, as they are designed to trigger the immune system and 'fool' it into thinking you have caught the disease being vaccinated against, making it react straight away.

To this end, vaccines do not, by default, cause health problems that may appear in later life or which are gradual in their onset; once your initial side-effects, if any, have passed, the jab will not 'do anything to you' – but the antibodies it has generated will make you eight times less likely to become ill with Covid, and reduce your likelihood of becoming infected at all by a similar level.