THE average Spanish resident will spend between €500 and €1,500 on their holidays this year, with three in 10 set to increase their budget from last year and 16% reducing it.
German tourists in Balearic 'holiday season pilot scheme'
13/06/2020
A 'TOURISM corridor' or a dry-run of the summer holiday season will start on Monday to give the industry, the public and visitors a chance to 'practise' the new procedures set to be in place until Spain is either free from Covid-19 or a vaccination is available to the public in general.
The 'pilot' plan will see nearly 11,000 tourists gradually arriving from the German airports of Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Hanover once this weekend is over, travelling to Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.
Spanish health authorities chose the Balearic Islands partly because its epidemiological situation is one of the best in the country – fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days on the trot – and because the destination needed to be somewhere that had been on 'Phase 3' for at least a week.
In this case, the ministry of health could have opted for up to 52% of the country, but as the travellers' departure points needed to be somewhere with identical contagion levels – and these parts of Germany were found to be on a par with the islands – the government decided on an area of Spain with a high percentage of German holidaymakers and where this nationality makes up the largest proportion of holiday homes.
Only those who live in the same German State as the airport they will be travelling from will be allowed to visit during the 'practice run'.
The tourists are required to have a return ticket, cannot stay anywhere else other than the Balearic Islands during their holiday, and must be there for a minimum of five nights.
They will not have to stick to the obligatory 14-day quarantine still in place for international arrivals – but which will be lifted in time for the start of the foreign holidaymaker season on July 1 – and in accordance with recommendations issued by the European Air Safety Agency (EASA), their temperatures will be taken at both airports.
Passengers will also be required to complete a questionnaire whilst on board the aircraft, and are obliged to provide their contact details and all possible information to enable authorities to trace anyone who has been near them in the previous fortnight if they are diagnosed with Covid-19 either in destination or once they return home.
Otherwise, until July 1, the only visitors to Spain exempt from the 14-day quarantine rule are habitual cross-border workers – such as Portuguese or French nationals or Gibraltarians who commute into Spain every day – transport workers, healthcare professionals travelling into Spain, provided they have not been in contact with patients diagnosed with Covid-19, plus crew members on airlines and ships, and coastguard or border security agents.
Once the German tourists are in the Balearics, the island authorities will be in possession of full data about their state of health, and they will be monitored 'remotely' – although the nature of this has not been detailed.
Additionally, the Balearic regional government will be required to provide the travellers' airports and accommodation with clear guidelines on hygiene, health and safety measures to be taken.
'Tourism corridors' are set to gradually open up across Europe, involving specific destinations and departure points, and all organisations and individuals at both ends of the journey and in between, and on site, are required to follow the above procedures.
Full freedom of movement across Europe is not yet established due to the differing situations of each country, and regions within countries.
Since May 15, all air passengers arriving in Spain from abroad have had their temperatures taken after landing, but with the expected hike in traveller numbers after July 1, these manual controls will be replaced with thermographic cameras which scan everyone who walks past them.
As shown in the second photograph above, these have been set up now at Madrid's Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport, and will be rolled out to all terminals in Spain before the end of this month.
Also, the questionnaires to be completed on board ahead of landing – known as a 'Passenger Location Card' (PLC) – and handed in to the temperature-takers will be digitalised from July 1 to cut the length of time needed for travellers to get through the airport and avoid queues and delays.
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A 'TOURISM corridor' or a dry-run of the summer holiday season will start on Monday to give the industry, the public and visitors a chance to 'practise' the new procedures set to be in place until Spain is either free from Covid-19 or a vaccination is available to the public in general.
The 'pilot' plan will see nearly 11,000 tourists gradually arriving from the German airports of Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Hanover once this weekend is over, travelling to Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.
Spanish health authorities chose the Balearic Islands partly because its epidemiological situation is one of the best in the country – fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days on the trot – and because the destination needed to be somewhere that had been on 'Phase 3' for at least a week.
In this case, the ministry of health could have opted for up to 52% of the country, but as the travellers' departure points needed to be somewhere with identical contagion levels – and these parts of Germany were found to be on a par with the islands – the government decided on an area of Spain with a high percentage of German holidaymakers and where this nationality makes up the largest proportion of holiday homes.
Only those who live in the same German State as the airport they will be travelling from will be allowed to visit during the 'practice run'.
The tourists are required to have a return ticket, cannot stay anywhere else other than the Balearic Islands during their holiday, and must be there for a minimum of five nights.
They will not have to stick to the obligatory 14-day quarantine still in place for international arrivals – but which will be lifted in time for the start of the foreign holidaymaker season on July 1 – and in accordance with recommendations issued by the European Air Safety Agency (EASA), their temperatures will be taken at both airports.
Passengers will also be required to complete a questionnaire whilst on board the aircraft, and are obliged to provide their contact details and all possible information to enable authorities to trace anyone who has been near them in the previous fortnight if they are diagnosed with Covid-19 either in destination or once they return home.
Otherwise, until July 1, the only visitors to Spain exempt from the 14-day quarantine rule are habitual cross-border workers – such as Portuguese or French nationals or Gibraltarians who commute into Spain every day – transport workers, healthcare professionals travelling into Spain, provided they have not been in contact with patients diagnosed with Covid-19, plus crew members on airlines and ships, and coastguard or border security agents.
Once the German tourists are in the Balearics, the island authorities will be in possession of full data about their state of health, and they will be monitored 'remotely' – although the nature of this has not been detailed.
Additionally, the Balearic regional government will be required to provide the travellers' airports and accommodation with clear guidelines on hygiene, health and safety measures to be taken.
'Tourism corridors' are set to gradually open up across Europe, involving specific destinations and departure points, and all organisations and individuals at both ends of the journey and in between, and on site, are required to follow the above procedures.
Full freedom of movement across Europe is not yet established due to the differing situations of each country, and regions within countries.
Since May 15, all air passengers arriving in Spain from abroad have had their temperatures taken after landing, but with the expected hike in traveller numbers after July 1, these manual controls will be replaced with thermographic cameras which scan everyone who walks past them.
As shown in the second photograph above, these have been set up now at Madrid's Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport, and will be rolled out to all terminals in Spain before the end of this month.
Also, the questionnaires to be completed on board ahead of landing – known as a 'Passenger Location Card' (PLC) – and handed in to the temperature-takers will be digitalised from July 1 to cut the length of time needed for travellers to get through the airport and avoid queues and delays.
Related Topics
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