A score of European countries in the Schengen area (which allows free movement)
have already approved some type of restriction or quarantine modality for travelers coming from Spain
and another five also propose other types of measures to their citizens (PCR, certificates of health ...) in case of traveling to our country.
Spain is the European country that is most in the focus of the outbreaks and the one that is suffering the most from restrictions on mobility.
Many of the countries that have vetoed us are also our main source markets for tourists
, such as the United Kingdom or Germany.
The Schengen area was opened at the end of June and, although there is free movement,
as the summer has progressed and outbreaks increased in Europe and Spain, many countries have been adopting different measures to prevent contagions from abroad.
Free movement, yes, but with nuances depending on where it comes from on the map and with restrictions.
The tourism sector in Spain and various international organizations, such as the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization)
have criticized these measures, considering that they do not follow homogeneous criteria,
that they have not been agreed within the EU and that they harm a vital sector (tourism) for the economy of many member states (Spain, France, Italy, Greece ...).
Map of 'vetoes'
According to the Foreign Ministry,
the European countries with some type of quarantine for citizens arriving from Spain are
Belgium, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Romania and Switzerland.
In addition,
PCR or testing is required in Germany, Greece, Italy, Austria and Turkey.
That is to say, that free movement without problems for those arriving from Spain practically only exists in France and Portugal.
Last Friday the European Commission presented a proposal to coordinate the response
of member states to the wave of outbreaks, which is what has caused countries to impose quarantines and restrictions on each other.
"We believe that no EU citizen should be denied entry to another member state," said Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen.
Brussels asks to prioritize measures such as quarantine or mandatory tests before closing borders or prohibiting travel to areas with high epidemiological risk.
In July, the United Kingdom opened the ban by imposing a quarantine on citizens arriving from Spain.
Weeks later, France recommended not traveling to Catalonia, which at that time had become the epicenter of outbreaks in our country.
Soon after, Germany recommended not traveling to Spain.
These three countries are precisely our main source markets for tourists.
Ban direct flights
This week, Belgium included Spain in its red list of countries, while
Poland prohibited direct flights to our country, despite the fact that citizens who want to travel can enter by another route, through France, for example
.
Asked about this paradox, a member of the Polish government acknowledged that "this way at least we make it more difficult for them."
This wave of restrictions has a high economic impact.
In the first place, it
is a blow to the airline industry, which has to reschedule its flights
, depending on the decisions that are being made and the bans on whether or not to fly to a certain site.
Airlines have seen traveler demand plummet this summer.
It has barely reached 20% compared to last year.
On the other hand, these restrictions deter tourists, who opt for easier or closer destinations.
In Spain, tourism represents 12.7% of GDP and almost 13% of employment.
We depend mostly on international tourism, but this summer, partly because of the pandemic, partly because of the aforementioned restrictions, visits from foreigners have plummeted.
Last year we were visited by more than 83 million internationals.
So far in 2020, just over 13 million have arrived.
In July 2.5 million visited us, which represents a 75% drop compared to the same month in 2019.
Loss of income
9,500 million euros have stopped entering in July alone.
This figure exceeds the money budgeted by the Government for the Ministries of Health and Education.
Exceltur, the main tourist lobby,
foresees losses of 99,000 million euros for this year.
The data for tourist arrivals in July already reflects the impact of the quarantine imposed by the British Government (visits by Englishmen plummet), but it still does not reflect the measures and recommendations that were taken later (in Germany, for example), which suggests that
the figures for August will be even worse.
The situation is so critical that Brussels has presented a proposal to harmonize the criteria to define the epidemiological risk of a country.
What she proposes is to use a common color code and follow the same protocols when returning from risk areas.
The EU has no powers and has spent months trying to convince member states of the need to coordinate measures.
It is about preventing each country from continuing to make its own decisions based on its own criteria, and chaos continues.
The World Tourism Organization warns of the damage that this lack of coordination generates in a sector on which 27 million jobs depend.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Spain
Germany
France
UK
Greece
Italy
Belgium
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Czech Republic
Romania
Turkey
Ursula von der Leyen
Slovenia
Austria
Catalonia
European Comission
Slovakia
Europe
Finland
Ireland
Latvia
Lithuania
Coronavirus Spain resigned from the distribution of EU masks at the toughest peak of the pandemic
SaludSanidad registers 4,507 new cases of coronavirus, with Madrid leading the number of those diagnosed in the last 24 hours
Health has registered 73 new deaths from coronavirus since Friday, with a notable increase in Aragon
See links of interest
Last News
Programming
English translator
Work calendar
Daily horoscope
Santander League Standings
League schedule
Movies TV
2019 cut notes
Topics
Stage 9, live: Pau - Laruns
Italian Grand Prix, live
Spain - Ukraine, live