Spain has now come out of the state of emergency!
We now have no curfew but as far as I can make out all the other restrictions that are in place remain the same. The harsh truth is nobody really knows 100% what it going on. We read one report, then another report says something different!
As I read it it, everything we were doing last week stays the same but there is no 11pm curfew.
The bars still have to close at 11 but I guess if you are out visiting a friends home which I think we can now do, then we can stay there until whatever time we want! If your not confused now, then by the time you've read this you probably will be. We still have to wear those god damn awful pesky masks, we still cannot dance (not that I ever could anyway) and we cant hug each other.
The British government has also decided Spain is an amber country which means if we want to go and visit our families we have to take a Covid test no more than 72 hours before we go, another test on day two, and a final test on day eight. We also have to self isolate for ten days. On our return to Spain I think we would have to have another test to enter the country.
That is four tests, and if there is a family with children I would imagine that could work out quite expensive. If this isn't a deterrent in itself I would imagine there is also some hefty paperwork that would also need to filled in, probably in duplicate and triplicate and completed with a black ball point pen, stapled together in the right order with a staple, not a paperclip.
Maybe I'm taking the whole paperwork thing a bit too far, although twenty years ago you wouldn't have thought so.
So with all this done, the burning question on everyone's lips is when can British tourists return to Spain?
It seems that no one can go anywhere until at least May 17th but then what?
I got very brave, I put on my serious grown up face and I searched and searched google. I'll be totally honest I am still absolutely none the wiser. In fact as things stand at the moment I'm almost scared to book anything and that is not like me at all. I'm usually very confident when it comes to booking holidays, you've only got to ask my husband! He will tell you how he usually knows very little until the boarding passes are printed off and the bags are almost packed.
I, along with probably 99% of the worlds population am desperate to travel. I want to go and visit my parents in the UK but I haven't even looked at flights, although as soon as free travel is allowed I imagine the flight prices will at least double.
Then there is the 'Covid Passport' Do you still have to take all these tests if you've had the jab and if you have had the jab / jabs, how do you prove it?
Eddie had his first jab and has to go for his second one in June, so far we have absolutely no paperwork to say what he has had. I am yet to have my jab.
So, once again we are all left dangling. Spain says one thing and the UK says something else! will we be able to take a holiday this year without jumping through a million hoops?
The answer I think, remains to be seen! We sit and wait with everything crossed.
Many thanks again for clicking on the ads, it really helps a lot. The photos are from a recent walk to Alcala
H x
We would normally have been to the Island twice by now, but with the rules, regulations and confusion, we haven’t bothered so far. We have booked for September, in hopes everything will be a little better by then, but until then, we will holiday in the UK. I wonder how much all this confusion will put other people off this year?
ReplyDeleteAgree with all you have said. Some over 80's I know who have had both jabs have been told the local clinic will call them when they have a card ready for them to collect stating they have had both vaccines. We will see?
ReplyDeleteIt's still all up in the air scuse the pun.
ReplyDeleteEngland different from Wales and Scotland so one rule doesn't fit all.
Very confusing for us all.
I've had my first jab and awaiting my second and just have a card stamped that I need for my next one.
Love your blogs, keep up the good work x
The rules differ country to country because there are different infection rates and considerations such as mutations. The risks of travel are still very high. It is entirely reasonable to place conditions on non-essential travel during the pandemic. If it's too costly for you to follow the process, don't travel. A negative covid test before travel reduces the risk of transmission. Being vaccinated does not make you unable to catch, or spread, the virus. Much like the flu vaccination, the aim is to improve the bodies own ability to fight the virus, reducing death and life threatening illness, and to build immunity throughout the population, which then reduces the rate of transmission person to person.
ReplyDeleteVaccinations are a key part of the world strategy to fight the pandemic, but that doesn't mean other restrictions don't need to be in place.
99% of the population are not 'desperate to travel'. Many may be longing for a holiday but there are far more concerns than that. India currently is totalling thousands of deaths per day. Millions of people have had medical care delayed due to covid prioritisation. A substantial amount of people who catch covid continue to suffer from a range of, often debilitating, post-acute-viral syndrome symptoms. Many people have lost their livelihoods. Some people will be made homeless as a direct consequence of this. And, above all else, people have died. This is a deadly, highly transmissible virus and as much as you may find restrictions to be annoying, it is a pandemic and it may be worth remembering that there are very real consequences to not following the restrictions.
Whilst it is understandable to be frustrated, as most people are, the facts remain that there is a bigger picture to consider.
If you are still confused, please consult a reputable source such as the World Health Organisation, that has an array of pages containing easy to understand explanations of the virus.