PCR test of less than 24 hours in Spain and Portugal: the galley of the French to return

The end of the holidays has a bitter taste for the French who have left for Portugal and Spain, two countries in the grip of an outbreak of coronavirus cases.

If they are not vaccinated, they must be able to take a PCR test within 24 hours to return home.

Before the measures announced by Emmanuel Macron, a PCR test of less than 72 hours or an antigen of less than 48 hours was sufficient.

Unexpected expenditure or even the impossibility of carrying it out, some are dismayed by the measure.

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Isabelle's plane to return from Portugal will take off on Monday morning.

But the Frenchwoman is facing a major problem: most laboratories in the province of the country where she is located are closed on Sundays.

So, before the announcement of the Head of State, she had tried to anticipate.

"I had already made an appointment to do a PCR test on Saturday morning," she explains.

Before adding: "I have no idea how I'm going to get a test 24 hours before, I'm really bored, what should I do?"

"PCR tests are overpriced" 

Same constraint for Caroline.

On vacation in Menorca, Spain, after a week in the sun with her partner and two beautiful daughters, she has to return home to Marseille.

No stress: the hotel took care of organizing the four tests in a local hospital.

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The only problem is the bill. "PCR tests are overpriced", unlike antigenic tests which are no longer valid, notes Caroline. "It will cost me 30 euros per person. For a family of four, it's still a budget of 120 euros, a very good restaurant in Spain," she laments. The only relief for these thousands of holidaymakers returning from Spain and Portugal: they are not, for the moment, obliged to isolate themselves on their return to France.