Alex Trelinski
VALENCIAN president, Ximo Puig, has temporarily side-lined his own region’s suggestion that EU COVID-19 certificates could be used to get entry to leisure and hospitality businesses.
Valencian tourism secretary, Francesc Colomer, promoted the idea a fortnight ago, which he claimed had ‘the support of the tourist sector’.
Colomer stated the certificate would ‘encourage’ more vaccinations and allow venues to operate at high capacity during the summer season.
He added that Puig would raise the issue with Spain’s other regions and national health minister, Carolina Darias.
Some hospitality associations said they opposed the plan and Ximo Puig appears to have now poured cold water on Colomer’s proposition, at least for the time being.
Puig today(July 27) said; “Using an EU certificate is an option to look at in a calm way but not before the government has been able to guarantee the possibility of vaccinating all Valencians because that would generate inequality between citizens.”
That time frame rules out the rest of the summer season and there is no estimate as to when every adult would have got a vaccination summons.
‘When everybody has been given the chance to be vaccinated, it will then be the right time to discuss the matter both from a legal and ethical point of view”, added Puig.
Other countries like France, Greece, and Portugal are already using the EU certificate to varying degrees to control indoor venue and business access.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST COVID-19 INFECTION FIGURES FOR THE VALENCIAN COMMUNITY
