COVID guidelines for travellers to Spain and Portugal

The Covid entry requirements for travel depend on whether you qualify as fully vaccinated.

Here’s our simplified guide to the current regulations and what they mean for vaccinated travellers to Spain and Portugal. If you’re not fully vaccinated or have any other doubts please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 *tests must be laboratory certified (NHS lateral flow tests are not acceptable for travel)

Check the gov.uk step-by-step checklist for travelling abroad and the Entering the UK page which also details the specific requirements for travelling or returning to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Currently before you travel to the UK you must:

• Book and pay for a COVID-19 test – to be taken within 2 days after you arrive in the UK. This can be a Lateral Flow test or a PCR.
• Complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in the UK

Tests must be ordered and purchased prior to your departure from the UK and you will need the booking reference to fill in the Passenger Locator Form.

Our association AITO have secured a special deal with selected test providers.

Here are the offers and the discount codes you will need to access the special pricing:

All travellers coming from the UK will have to present proof of full vaccination i.e. two doses plus 14 days (see ‘NHS App – Certify and share your COVID status‘ below) or a negative PCR test.

• Those who have had both jabs will need to show a vaccination certificate issued by UK authorities either electronically or in print at least 14 days from the last vaccination dose.
• Those without both vaccinations must show a certificate illustrating a negative PCR test result taken no more than 48 hours before arriving in Spain. Antigen tests will not be accepted.
• Children under 12 are exempt from the requirement to present a negative PCR or vaccination certificate when travelling with an adult.

Prior to travelling to Spain, all passengers must also present a QR code obtained by filling in the Health Control Form available via Spain Travel Health (SpTH).

Please check FCDO travel advice for Spain and Spain Travel Health website for up-to-date information including entry requirements. For more detailed information about entry requirements from the UK, Ireland and a host of other countries visit Spain’s excellent Travel Safe website. The site also includes information about which measures are in place for each region via an easy-to-use interactive map.

Starting from February 1, only vaccination certificates indicating that a person has been fully vaccinated against the virus within the last 270 days will be recognised for entry into Spain. At time of writing Portugal have not yet made any announcement but we believe are likely to follow suit.

This means that if you had your vaccine dose more than nine months prior to travel you will need to get a booster shot to be permitted entry to Spain. As before you also need to ensure that at least 14 days have passed from vaccine administration to time of travel.

Please check FCDO travel advice for Portugal for up-to-date information including entry requirements and visitportugal.com for information about the situation in Portugal.

Before departure all travellers to Portugal must complete the free Online Passenger Locator Card
From the age of 12 years, all passengers (irrespective of vaccination status) are required to show a negative covid test before departure:

1. PCR / NAAT test within 72 hours. A negative SARSCoV-2 lab result of a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), for example a PCR test, performed at least 72 hours before boarding (can be self-administered), or
2. Antigen / TRAg test within 48 hours. A rapid antigen test (TRAg), performed within 48 hours of boarding (cannot be self-administered) or
3. A valid recovery certificate (under 180 days from the recovery date)

As always we advise that you read our terms and conditions thoroughly and contact us should you have any doubts.

To make booking easier we are currently accepting a reduced deposit of 25% and have reduced the balance-due period so that payment is due six weeks prior to travel rather than the standard ten weeks.

At that stage, six weeks prior to travel, you can choose to pay the balance and lock in the dates or postpone to a later time with no administration charges.

With regard to cancellations due to COVID virus and associated restrictions please see the following sections as applicable:

For package holidays (those which include travel, typically a car hire or ferry crossing) see Section C Clause 31 "If you Cancel your Package Holiday due to Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances".

For accommodation only holidays (where no travel element is included)  see Section A Clause 11 "Events Beyond our Control".

We strongly recommend registering for the EHIC or GHIC health insurance card before undertaking travel to any EU country.

The card is free of charge and will allow you to access  state-provided, medically necessary, healthcare when you're visiting an EU country

Please click here for information on the EHIC / GHIC card and how to apply for a new GHIC card.

Should you wish to carry proof of your COVID vaccination status the NHS smartphone app (rather than the NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app) now includes that functionality:

Though at the time of writing this has no direct application or benefits with regard to international travel between the UK and Mainland Spain or Portugal this situation may change.

You may also find it useful to share your COVID status whilst on holiday particularly should you require medical assistance for whatever reason.

Due to the constant updating of the information regarding the restrictions and measures caused by COVID-19 contained on this website, before travelling, it is your own responsibility to consult the requirements and recommendations of the public bodies and competent national authorities in each country.

Casas Cantabricas take no responsibility for the information shown here and will not be liable for any issues arising should said information be incorrect or out of date at the time of your travel.

The information found on this website is not binding and has no regulatory effect. Likewise, it is based on the information gathered from the official websites of the countries listed.