Spain High Incidence Area: What the classification means for vacationers

The Robert Koch Institute declared the whole of Spain to be a high incidence area on Friday.

The Netherlands was also classified in this category.

Holidaymakers who have not yet been fully vaccinated must be in quarantine for at least five days after they return home to Germany, until they can “test themselves”

.

The classification of both countries will take effect on Tuesday at midnight.

Hans-Christian Rößler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb, based in Madrid.

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In view of the sharp increase in new infections, the RKI classified Spain as a risk area two weeks ago, which had no major consequences for travelers. But the country is still not getting a grip on the new wave, which is particularly rampant among the younger, previously unvaccinated Spaniards. On Thursday evening, the Ministry of Health reported a seven-day incidence of 333 new infections per 100,000 residents; in Germany it is currently 13.2. All important holiday regions are above the corresponding RKI limit value of 200 - including the Canary Islands, Andalusia and especially Catalonia with a value of 549.

The numbers are increasing, although in Spain with 53 percent of the population, more people already have complete vaccination protection than in Germany. 83 percent of the newly infected had not yet been vaccinated, 11.4 percent had only received one dose, 5.5 percent both. The vaccination campaign had contributed to the fact that the number of Covid 19 patients and corona deaths is not as high as in the previous waves. But hospital occupancy is increasing again in Spain. Covid patients are in more than 13 percent of the beds in intensive care units, and 78 corona deaths were counted within seven days.

Some regions are trying to counteract this with new restrictions without any noticeable effect. In Catalonia and the Valencia region, there are nocturnal curfews in more than 200 particularly affected locations. In the Balearic Islands, meetings between people who do not live together in public and private spaces are prohibited from Saturday from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. So far, the Spanish politicians have not been able to bring themselves to reintroduce the general obligation to wear a mask outdoors.

The classification of Spain as a high incidence area with a seven-day incidence, which is above the national average with 365 new infections, particularly affects Mallorca and the neighboring islands, where most German holidaymakers travel. The hoteliers already felt this after Spain was declared a risk area by the RKI two weeks ago and the British government removed them from their list of safe travel areas. The Mallorcan hotel association FEHM reported a fall in bookings of more than 30 percent on Thursday. Planned reopening of hotels would therefore be postponed. More than 80 percent of the houses are currently open, usually one hundred percent in the high season in summer.

The Spanish government had expected at least 17 million foreign guests during the second summer season in Corona times. They are particularly important for the Spanish economy, as tourism contributes almost 13 percent to the gross domestic product. Spaniards are already busy vacationing in their own country again, but they cannot replace international tourists.

According to the German Travel Association, the consequences of quarantine for those returning to travel are serious. It leads to "great uncertainty among people who are currently on vacation or who are about to start," said the association on Friday. “We have to move away from the mere consideration of incidence when classifying target areas. Instead, the actual risk situation for travelers as well as the burden on the health system must be placed in the center of the considerations ”, demanded association president Norbert Fiebig. According to the association, package tour guests who are currently in Spain will now be informed of the new situation by the organizers. If travelers want to return early, the tour operator will arrange a flight rebooking.However, this is not absolutely necessary. Later, contact will be made with those who have planned a trip to Spain in the next few days. The travel association estimates that there are currently around 200,000 package travelers in Spain. In addition, there is roughly the same number of individual travelers who have not booked their trip with a tour operator.