Spain welcoming tourists from Turkey, worldwide with vaccine proof or PCR test

By Busra Nur Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) – Tourists from Turkey and most other countries worldwide can now enter Spain with a COVID-19 vaccine certificate or a negative PCR test done 48 hours before arrival, according to the country’s new official rules.

As of June 7, entry into Spain from Turkey is allowed with a vaccination certificate issued by competent authorities of the Republic of Turkey 14 days after the last dose of a vaccination.

Accepted vaccines are those approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or approved for immediate use by the World Health Organization: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Astra-Zeneca, Janssen/Johnson&Johnson, Sinovac, and Sinopharm.

Alternately, a negative PCR test or negative antigen test, from those on the European Commission joint list, issued within 48 hours prior to arrival in Spain is required.

Spain took a leap forward on Monday on its path to reviving the tourism sector, allowing vaccinated travelers from almost anywhere in the world and international cruise ships back into the country.

Only vaccinated people traveling from South Africa, India, and Brazil are still not allowed into Spain over fears of variants. Anyone else who has been fully vaccinated does not even need to present a negative COVID-19 test to enter the country.

On Monday, around 1,300 flights were expected to land in Spain, up 33% from the same day last week.

Fernando Valdes, the state secretary for tourism, said he expects Spain to welcome around 15 million international tourists between July and September.

That figure would double the number of arrivals from summer 2020, but represents just 40% of the 2019 arrivals. According to Valdes, figures are not expected to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels until 2023.