Spain closed to national tourism, open to Europeans

Paradox of sanitary measures: it is complicated to go from Valencia to Madrid or Barcelona, but very easy to get from Paris, London or Berlin to Seville, Valencia or Alicante.

The tourism sector is undoubtedly the one that has suffered the most from the pandemic, with a large number of restrictive measures still in force. The prospect of the Easter holidays agitates the spirits, but the Spanish regions maintain a firm and concerted position, and one will not be able to leave their region to take a vacation in another comunidad. On the other hand, the intra-European borders always remain open: it is therefore possible to leave or enter Spain, with a negative PCR test and the famous QR code fills in.

This contradiction can be explained by several reasons linked to the standoff between the government and the 17 autonomous regions: in March 2020, the central power took control of the management of the pandemic, then later, the The executive of Pedro Sánchez has delegated this responsibility to the regions. This allowed some of them to close their borders for a while, preventing movement between them, with a few exceptions, such as the Canary Islands which allowed visits from the peninsula with a negative coronavirus test. But the autonomous regions do not have the power to refuse entry to a European visitor.

For this, it is Spain (Madrid) which should notify the closure of its borders, an extreme that has not occurred, except between March and June 2019 and since last December for non-essential trips from the UK and third countries outside the EU. The only requirement for travelers arriving by air or sea is the presentation of a negative PCR (and this is not even mandatory for road trips entering Spain). In other words, if a French or a German arrives at Palma, Valencia or Malaga airport, no measure can prevent it. Only his country of origin can do this and generally speaking, countries in the European Union have not really imposed restrictions, although travelers are advised to seriously limit pleasure travel.
Between the vaccination campaigns, the Easter holidays and the arrival of sunny days, tourism professionals hope to at least attract a few European tourists before a return to the normalcy they hope for as soon as possible.

Source: Laurence Lemoine

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