In order for a British tourist to travel to Spain for a winter sun holiday, new rules say they must be vaccinated against the coronavirus. As of December 1, Spain will only allow the entry of people from the United Kingdom with a vaccination certificate and not with negative diagnostic tests or a cert for having recovered from the disease, as has been acceptable until now.
The news came from Spain’s Ministry of the Interior, published on Saturday in BOE state bulletin, which modifies the criteria for the application of the temporary restriction of non-essential trips from third countries to the European Union and Schengen associated countries for reasons of public order and public health due to the current health crisis.
As such, British travellers, who until now had an exemption, have been included in the restricted list. The United Kingdom has a vaccination rate of 68% and an incidence of infections that stands at around 900 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
President of Hosbec (the hostelry industry association) Toni Mayor said of the announcement on Saturday that every barrier put in place means less tourism. Mayor said that the hotel industry in the Valencian Community has always been very respectful of health regulations and said “in the United Kingdom there are already 20 million with the third jab. The classic tourist who comes to us in winter is people over 50 years of age and within the complete guideline.”
British tourism was one of the sectors flagged by the sharp increase in contagion rates in Benidorm.
According to data from the Ministry, from October 1 to last Friday, 535 cases imported from other countries have been detected in the Valencian Community, 53 of them in the last seven days. The breakdown by origin only appears with nationwide figures, among which the travellers arriving from Germany and the United Kingdom stand out with 162 and 143 cases in the last four weeks.
The BOE also includes a change in the entry criteria for people from countries that exceed 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Among them is Germany, whose travellers must present the covid vaccine certificate to enter. Travellers from ‘at risk’ countries must have a vaccination cert as well as a negative test result (or recovery cert). As of Wednesday, December 1, Spain will only allow the entry of people from the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland with a vaccination certificate.
December ‘puente’ looms with worst figures since August
The ‘puente’ or bank holiday weekend next week sees two national holidays – Monday the 6th and Wednesday the 8th of December with many businesses and schools taking a bridging day (puente) on Tuesday 7th. While many people look forward to a five day break from work or studying, experts warn that the Valencian Community is experiencing a significant increase in cases with 5744 cases in the last seven days – more than the total cases for the month of October. The cumulative incidence (cases per 100,000 people) on Sunday rose to 176, the highest since the end of August. For many, there are fears that an extra influx of people to the Valencian region this weekend could push figures even higher.
Despite the overall figures however, it seems that the vaccine rollout is having a positive impact on the most adverse effects of the virus. Looking at the week before the December puente last year, there were 1257 covid patients admitted to hospital, of which 282 required treatment in Intensive Care Units. Figures from Friday indicate that there are 389 covid patients in hospital with 68 in ICU. Looking at those who have lost their lives due to coronavirus, there were 24 deaths last week compared with 147 deaths reported by the Ministry of Health this time last year.
The key, experts insist, is immunization – especially the third dose which is being rolled out among the most vulnerable. Persons over 60 years of age and those with previous pathologies are receiving a booster dose that will help prevent a positive case of covid from ending up as a serious case.
Salvador Peiró from Fundación Fisabio, the Valencian Community’s biomedical research institute, warns that an increase in cases also entails an increase in hospitalisations. “With more cases, there will always be more hospitalizations,” said Perió, warning that while vaccination figures here are very high, among the 10% remaining there are “many hospitalisable people.” Key, he says, is to ensure safety measures are met indoors where the spread of the virus is more prolific.
The extra dose against covid has already been administered to almost 600,000 people in the Valencian community including the most elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
The administration the booster dose against covid-19 in the Valencian Community is being combined with the flu vaccination campaign, of which 684,520 doses have been administered.