Travel and COVID-19

If you are a third-country national, in order to enter Spain, you must comply with the entry requirements set out by the Ministry of the Interior in Order INT/657/2020, of July 17, which modifies the criteria for the application of a temporary restriction of non-essential travel from third countries to the European Union and Schengen partner countries for reasons of public order and public health due to the health crisis caused by COVID-19.

Any third-country national will be subject to denial of entry, for reasons of public order or public health, unless they belong to one of the following categories:

1. Habitual residents in the European Union, Schengen Associated States, Andorra, Monaco, The Vatican (Holy See) or San Marino who go to that country, proving it documentary.
2. Holders of a long-term visa issued by a Member State or Schengen Associated State who are going to that country.
3. Health professionals, including health researchers, and elderly care professionals who go to or return from exercising their work activity.
4. Transport, marine and aeronautical personnel necessary to carry out air transport activities.
5. Diplomatic, consular, international, military, civil protection and members of humanitarian organizations, in the exercise of their functions.
6. Students who carry out their studies in the Member States or Schengen Associated States and who have the corresponding permit or visa for long-term stay, provided that they go to the country where they are studying, and that the entry occurs during the academic year or previous 15 days. If the destination is Spain and the duration of the stay is up to 90 days, it must be proven that the studies are carried out in an authorized teaching center in Spain, registered in the corresponding administrative registry, following a full-time program during this phase and in-person, and that leads to obtaining a degree or study certificate.
7. Highly qualified workers whose work is necessary and cannot be postponed or carried out remotely, including participants in high-level sports events that take place in Spain. These circumstances must be justified documentary.
8. Persons traveling for duly accredited imperative family reasons .
9. People who travel for reasons of force majeure or need, or whose entry is allowed for humanitarian reasons, proving it documentary.
10. Residents of third countries listed in the Annex. Provided that they come directly from them, have transited exclusively through other countries included in the list or have carried out only international transits in airports located in countries that do not appear in the annex. For residents of China, , reciprocity is pending.

    ANNEX: Third countries and special administrative regions whose residents are not affected by the temporary restriction of non-essential trips to the EU through the external borders in the terms set out in this order:

    • I. States
      1. Bahréin
      2. Chile
      3. Colombia
      4. Indonesia
      5. Kuwait
      6. New Zealand
      7. Peru
      8. Qatar
      9. Rwanda
      10. Saudi Arabia
      11. South Korea
      12. United Arab Emirates
      13. Uruguay
      14. China
    • II. Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China
      • Hong Kong SAR
      • Macao SAR
    • III. Entities and territorial authorities not recognised as States by at least one Member State
      • Taiwan
11. NEW: Persons with a recovery or vaccination certificate, that the Ministry of Health recognizes for this purpose, after verification by the health authorities.
    Persons aged 12 years or older and under 18 years who present a negative SARS-CoV-2 molecular nucleic acid amplification test -NAAT (RT-PCR or similar)- performed within 72 hours prior to departure, after verification by the health authorities.
    People under 12 years old.

All third-country nationals, even if they belong to one of the above categories, who, after verification by the health authorities, do not meet the health control requirements for COVID-19 established by the Ministry of Health, will be subjected to denial of entry for public health reasons.

All passengers arriving in Spain by air (except children under 12 years of age and those in international transit), regardless of the country of origin, including Spaniards returning to their home, must have one of these documents:

• DIGITAL COVID CERTIFICATE OR EU EQUIVALENT  vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative certificate of an active infection diagnostic test or a certificate of recovery after passing the disease. You can check if your certificate is valid on the website  https://spth.gob.es or in the Spain Travel Health app -SpTH- (Android, iOS, Huawei).

  Upon arrival at the airport follow the signals indicating the ORANGE WAY .

• QR SPTH . If you do not have the EU Digital COVID Certificate or EU equivalent, you must fill in the SPTH Health Control Form manually entering the data of your vaccination, recovery or diagnostic test certificate through the website https://spth.gob.es or the Spain Travel Health application -SpTH- (Android, iOS, Huawei). The system will send you a QR code that you will have to present both prior boarding, and upon your arrival in Spain. In the health control, you may be required to present this document certifying vaccination, diagnostic test or recovery.

  Upon arrival at the airport follow the signals indicating the BLUE WAY .

If you come from a third country, you should first check if you can travel to Spain at the: Entry requirements for entry in Spain from third countries .

Passengers arriving in Spain by sea must also be in possession of one of the required health certificates (vaccination, recovery or diagnostic test), whether it is an EU CCD/EU Equivalent or another type, without being required to complete a health control form.

For more information, see the section "Learn more about the new sanitary control process" or the FAQs .

EU DIGITAL COVID CERTIFICATE / EU EQUIVALENT CERTIFICATE

An EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) is a digital accreditation issued by the competent authorities of EU countries that a person has a valid vaccination schedule against COVID-19, a diagnostic test has been carried out with negative result or has been recovered from COVID-19.

COVID-19 certificates of vaccination, diagnostic tests or recovery issued by countries with which the EU has established equivalence (EU Equivalent Certificate) will have the same status as an EU DCC. These countries can be consulted on the European Union (EU) website

Any of these three certificates (vaccination, recovery, diagnostic test) may be used by travellers to enter Spain without the need to complete a health control form, provided that it meets the following criteria:

NOTICE: Since 1 February, some EU Covid Digital Certificates of Vaccination must be reissued, following the administration of a booster dose. Please contact your issuing organisation and check its validity before travelling.

• COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate
  • From 1 February 2022, this will be valid from 14 days after the date of administration of the last dose of the complete vaccination schedule and will be valid up to 270 days from the date of administration of that last dose. The vaccination certificate with a complete schedule for people under 18 years of age does not have an expiration date.
  • Thereafter, in order to be valid, the vaccination certificate must reflect the administration of a booster dose. These certificates will be considered valid since the day the booster dose was administered.

Any vaccine authorised by the European Union (European Medicines Agency, EMA) and WHO will be accepted. Certificates with vaccines not authorised by these agencies are also acceptable, but the last dose administered must be of one of the authorised vaccines. Complete vaccination schedules are defined as those established in the COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy in Spain .

• Certificate of a diagnostic test for SARSCoV2 with negative result. The following diagnostic tests shall be admissible:
  • NAAT- nucleic acid amplification tests (e.g.: RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, TMA, HAD, NEAR, CRISPR, SDA), with sampling within the previous 72 hours to departure to Spain.
  • RAT-rapid antigen test, with sampling within the previous 24 hours to departure to Spain. You can consult the list of rapid tests approved by the European Commission through this link
• A COVID-19 Recovery certificate: Recovery certificates issued at least 11 days after the first positive NAAT or RAT, and up to a maximum of 180 days after the date of sampling, are accepted as valid. The RATs accepted are those authorised by the European Commission, which can be consulted at the following link , and must have been performed by healthcare professionals. Passengers with a Recovery Certificate other than an EU Digital COVID Certificate or equivalent must also provide documentary proof of the diagnostic test from which the Recovery Certificate is derived.

Other certificates

Passengers from third countries who meet the requirements to enter Spain (see section "Entry requirements for entry in Spain from third countries"), may travel by presenting any of the following certificates, as long as they meet the same conditions as the EU Digital COVID Certificate:

• a certificate of vaccination against COVID-19,
• a negative diagnostic test (NAAT or RAT) performed within 72h (NAAT) / 24h (RAT) to departure,
• a certificate of recovery from COVID-19. Passengers who are in possession of a recovery certificate that is not an EU Digital COVID Certificate or equivalent, must also provide the document with the result of the diagnostic test from which said recovery certificate derives. The RAT tests admitted are those authorized by the European Commission, which you can consult at the following link , and must have been carried out by health professionals or by personnel specialized in carrying out diagnostic tests.

ATTENTION!!!, if you travel to Spain under point k) of the section "Entry requirements for entry in Spain from third countries”, you can only do so if you have a valid certificate of recovery or vaccination with an EMA/WHO authorized vaccine, including persons resident in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland coming directly from this country. Vaccination certificates must meet the aforementioned requirements.

Persons aged 12 years or older and under 18 years can submit a negative SARS-CoV-2 molecular nucleic acid amplification test -NAAT (RT-PCR or similar) performed 72 hours prior to departure .

Children under 12 years old do not have to present these certificates and neither does the SpTH QR code.

Until the EU Digital Covid Certificate regulations are in force, member states citizens may continue to submit other vaccination/diagnostic test/recovery certificates.

For more information, please see the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, FAQs

At the present time, no additional measures are required to those already mentioned. In the event that the epidemiological situation of a country/areas worsens in a way of concern, exceptional health control measures may be applied to passengers coming from those countries/areas.

During your stay in Spain follow at all times the COVID-19 recommendations indicated by the health authorities. You can consult them in the following link

For more information on health controls for travellers, international means of transport and international ports and airports facilities at Spanish points of entry, see the following link:  Health and Hygiene Controls in international means of transport and international port and airport facilities.

In case of interest, you can consult the regulations concerning health controls and temporary mobility restrictions in the following link.

Under development.

If you have any problem filling the Health Control Form or any questions regarding the health control procedure upon arrival in Spain, please call +34 910 50 30 50 (service hours Monday to Sunday from 08:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. 00 (Spanish time) to be attended in Spanish, English, French or German). Cost of the call according to the current rates that you have contracted with your telephone operator. Your telephone operator will apply the corresponding rate depending on the country where the call to Spain originates. Check with your telephone operator the rate applied for more details.

You can also send an email to spth@sanidad.gob.es with a screenshot of the error message. Please also indicate in the subject of the email if you are using the web service or the mobile application.