The Diplomat
The Government has imposed a ten-day quarantine for all people arriving in Spain from India, in view of the uncontrolled increase in cases of COVID-19. It has also recommended not to travel to the Asian country and has asked Spaniards who are in India to find a departure flight “as soon as possible”.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled yesterday that India “has reached the highest daily rate of infections since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and since March 22, is the country with the most daily cases in the world”. India, the country with the fourth highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world after the USA, Brazil and Mexico, yesterday passed the threshold of 200,000 deaths due to the local variant of the virus, which has already been detected in some twenty countries.
In spite of this, according to Foreign Affairs, “the central government has not approved new sanitary measures, for the moment”, although the use of face masks and social distancing continue to be obligatory. Some states have reinforced their containment measures and have even decreed the confinement of the population, as is the case of Maharashtra and the country’s capital, Delhi, “due to the worsening of the situation due to the continuous increase in contagions and the scarcity of hospital and health resources for COVID patients”.
For this reason, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “recommends not to travel to India” and asks Spaniards who are in the country temporarily to look for “a flight to return to Spain as soon as possible”, since due to the prohibitions of entry or even transit from India that many countries are adopting, “the options to return to Spain are increasingly scarce and expensive”. “India has opened safe air corridors with several countries around the world, including some European countries but not Spain”, adds the Ministry. In addition, “in view of the worsening epidemiological and health situation, most of the countries that still maintain air links with India are banning flights from the country and even transits”.
United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Maldives, Bangladesh or Iran have suspended all flights from India, several US airlines have also cancelled their flights and Germany only allows transits from India through the international zone of its airports, which excludes transits to Schengen zone countries. “This rules out connections with Spain”, warns Foreign Affairs. The Netherlands has also banned flights from India, but does allow Schengen transits for the time being. Therefore, France (Air France) and the Netherlands (KLM) are currently “the only stopover options to reach Spain from India, but it cannot be ruled out that this will change in the coming days”. These two countries have also reduced the period of validity of the PCR tests for travel.
In the case of Spanish residents in India who do not wish to return to Spain, the Government advises to follow the recommendations and guidelines of the local authorities at all times, and “contact the Spanish Embassy in Delhi or the Consulate General in Mumbai in case of emergency”.
Quarantine
On the other hand, the Official State Gazette (BOE) published yesterday an Order of the Ministry of Health by which, as from May 1st, people coming from any airport in India, with or without intermediate stopovers, must remain in quarantine for ten days after their arrival in Spain or during their entire stay if it is less than that period. The order will have an initial duration of fourteen calendar days and may be extended if the circumstances that motivate it are maintained. The ten-day quarantine may be terminated earlier in the event that, on the seventh day, the person tests negative in a diagnostic test for acute infection.
During the quarantine period, the persons must remain in their homes or lodgings and limit their movements and access of third parties to the home or lodgings to the essential needs. The health authorities may contact the persons in quarantine to monitor them, the Security Forces and Corps may at any time carry out the appropriate checks on compliance with the quarantine conditions and travel agencies, tour operators and transport companies must inform travelers of these measures prior to the sale of tickets to Spanish territory.
