Spain ended restrictions on travelers from outside of the European Union (EU) and the Schengen travel area who have a certificate to prove they have fully completed their vaccination procedure 14 days before travel.
This follows the country's earlier decision to lift restrictions on travelers from the United Kingdom from May 24 in an attempt to boost Spain's tourism sector.
Spain's Minister of Health Carolina Darias tweeted on Saturday that "Spain is a safe destination and we are in a position to soon regain our world tourism leadership, something that is endorsed by the excellent vaccination data that places us closer to normality every day."
Under the new rules, those who come from countries or areas not included in the list of risk countries will have access to a quick control with the QR code obtained through SpTH (Spain Travel Health). Also, once the EU COVID Digital Certificate comes into force on July 1, holders of this document will also have access to this quick control.
Those who come from areas that are included in the list of countries at risk will have to undergo a random control, which will take into account their place of origin and the level of incidence, according to the government's decision.
In the validation of the vaccination certificate, Spain will only accept the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as those recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO).
EMA covers Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson, and the World Health Organization adds China's Sinopharm and Sinovac to the list. Unvaccinated minors aged 6 or under who are traveling with adults will also be allowed entry.
As of Monday, non-vaccinated visitors from the EU are able to enter Spain with a negative antigen test instead of the previously requested negative PCR test, while cruise ships will once again be allowed to dock at Spanish ports.
According to the latest Ministry of Health data published on Friday, 19,038,135 Spaniards (40.1 percent of the population) have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 10,257,209 (21.6 percent of the population) have received both doses or being given the single-shot Janssen vaccine. ■