Kirsty Mckenzie
IT’S good news for holidaymakers looking to travel to the UK this Easter.
The UK Government has confirmed that they will scrap all the remaining Covid travel restrictions this Friday (March 18).
From 4am on Friday the legal requirement to complete a passenger locator form when arriving in the UK will end. All testing requirements will also be lifted.
In an update Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport of the United Kingdom, tweeted: “All remaining Covid travel measures, including the Passenger Locator Form and tests for all arrivals, will be stood down for travel to the UK from 4am on 18 March. These changes are possible due to our vaccine roll out and mean greater freedom in time for Easter.”
The rules will not just apply to those who have had a full course of the Covid vaccine but those who took part in the trials and those without any vaccination doses.
It comes as Spain announced earlier this month that they would also be loosening travel restriction by allowing travellers from non-EU countries to enter Spain if they have a Covid-19 recovery certificate.
Until now Spain had only allowed tourists from ‘high risk’ third countries if they were fully vaccinated with EU-approved vaccines and had a certificate to prove it.
But Spanish authorities have relaxed the rules and now allow all WHO approved vaccines as well as certificates proving that a traveller has recovered from Covid within the last six months.
The rule changes affecting non-essential travel were published in the Spain’s state bulletin the BOE on Saturday February 26 and came into force immediately.
“People with a vaccination certificate OR a recovery certificate recognised by Spain’s Health Ministry” are authorised to enter Spain, the notice said.
It explained: “Those issued at least 11 days after the first positive NAAT or RAT, and up to a maximum of 180 days after the date of the test”.
The rules apply to all travellers over the age of 18, although travellers aged between 12 and 17 who are not fully vaccinated can instead present a negative test.
Spain changed the rules on February 14, just in time for UK halfterm, to allow those aged 12-17 who don’t have a full vaccination record to instead produce a negative PCR test taken 72 hours before travelling.
Children aged under 12 don’t need a PCR test or vaccination record.
Current rules also demand that the last dose of a vaccine must have been administered between two weeks prior and within nine months of entry – so for many people proof of a booster is now required.
All travellers arriving in Spain will need to fill out a Health Control Form prior to their arrival. The link to the form can be found HERE.
For a list of third countries considered ‘low risk’ and therefore exempt from entry restrictions, including Australia, New Zealand, Chile, UAE, check the Spanish government website HERE:
READ MORE:
- Spain abolishes full COVID-19 vaccination rules for UK children aged 12 and over
- TRAVEL UPDATE: Do I need a COVID-19 booster shot to travel to Spain?
