The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday extended until next March 2 the entry restrictions from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa, adopted by the Government on December 22, 2020 and February 2, 2021 to limit the spread and contagion by COVID-19.
The limitation of direct flights and passenger ships between the United Kingdom and Spanish airports and ports and flights between Brazil and the Republic of South Africa and Spanish airports extends from 18:00 on February 16, in the case of the United Kingdom, and from 09:00 on February 17, for the other two countries, until 18:00 on March 2 and responds to the Government’s decision to curb the spread of the British variant of COVID-19.
In the case of the United Kingdom, only flights or disembarkation of passenger ships to Spain by Spanish or Andorran nationals and residents of both countries will be allowed. The exceptions from Brazil and South Africa will be the same, although passengers in international transit to a country not belonging to the Schengen zone will also be allowed to enter, with a stopover of less than 24 hours and without leaving the transit zone of the Spanish airport.
Besides, passengers coming from Brazil and South Africa -where new variants of the virus have been detected-, will not only be required a negative PCR test in the 72 hours prior to the trip, but also an antigen test will be carried out at the airport in order to reinforce controls, as informed by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, in the press conference after the Council of Ministers.
These restrictions contemplate some exceptions, such as freight drivers, aeronautical personnel necessary for air transport activities, state air or maritime transport, search and rescue services, flights with stopover in Spanish territory for non-commercial purposes and whose final destination is another country, flights exclusively for cargo or for humanitarian, medical or emergency purposes, or ships that have left a port in the United Kingdom before the beginning of the restriction.
These decisions, according to the Government, “are in line with the objective established by the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Committee and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to interrupt the spread of the virus, adopting firm measures to detect the disease early, isolate and treat cases, follow up contacts and promote social distancing measures commensurate with the risk”.
