Spain Will Reopen to International Visitors in July
by Daniel McCarthy
Spain will begin reopening to international visitors in July. Photo: Shutterstock.com.
Spain will do-away with its mandatory two-week quarantine for incoming travelers starting in July, marking the start of its reopening to international tourists.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made the announcement this weekend, saying that “foreign tourists can therefore now plan their holidays.” While tourists will still have to grapple with travel restrictions from their own governments—U.S. tourists, for instance, are still operating under a Level 4: Do Not Travel warning from the U.S. State Department—the news means that travelers can now enter Spain without being subject to a 14-day waiting period.
Spain had been particularly hard-hit by COVID-19—it’s the second hardest hit country in Europe behind the United Kingdom—and had instituted a strict lockdown in March. While the country won’t return to full normalcy in July, the welcoming back of international tourists marks a step towards that.
The country’s foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez said on Twitter that the reopening will be done with “the highest standards of health safety.”
Tourism accounts for roughly 12% of Spain’s GDP, according to the Independent, and a lot of that comes during the summer travel season.
