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| Bienvenido de nuevo |
The details: When, where, and how
Next week's partial opening of the
country's borders is partial in two ways: 1) only for tourists from
Germany and 2) only for travel to the Balearic Islands. In addition,
these visitors will be exempt from the 14-day quarantine other
travelers to Spain must currently undergo.
Specifically, beginning next Monday,
June 15, some 10,900 German travelers are expected to begin alighting on the
shores of the islands of Mallorca, Ibiza, and Menorca. (Sorry Formentera fans.) There have been 47 flights scheduled thus far—38 to Palma, 8 to Ibiza and 1 to Menorca. The first two
flights are planned for Monday, and will arrive in Palma from Frankfurt and
Düsseldorf. The third is scheduled on Wednesday, from Düsseldorf to
Ibiza. The premiere flight to Menorca is scheduled to run June
27 from Düsseldorf.
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| Empty beach in Peguera, Mallorca: Marco Verch |
On arrival at the airports, passengers
will have to complete health questionnaires and undergo screening by
healthcare workers. Anyone with symptoms, e.g., a fever or cough, will
be given a test. If the test is negative, they will have to agree to
"telematic monitoring of their symptoms." A Monitoring Committee, made up of at least one representative from Spain's airports
operator AENA, the Ministry of Health, the Secretary of State for Tourism,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and relevant
bodies in the areas of health and tourism in the Balearic Islands,
will meet every two days.
Tourists will also have to stay a minimum of five nights and provide details about where they will be staying.
Other Special Routes Being Considered
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| Ibizas's sidewalk cafe's await |
These early travel bubbles are consistent with the government's official declaration, which stated, "It is recommended that pilot
programs be launched through the establishment of safe tourist
corridors, prior to the end of the state of alarm, in order to verify
the operation of the model for lifting temporary controls on internal
borders and the recovery of freedom of movement.”
What does Brussels say?
Brussels actually wants to move a bit faster on all this, having recently called for the European
Union's internal borders to be reopened next Monday. Some states, like
Italy, have opened their borders for all citizens of countries in the Schengen area. Others,
like Austria, have only done so for some of their neighbors. And a
third group, of which Spain is a part, has not yet lifted barricades for anyone—at least it will not have until this exception of the new Germany-Balearic Isles
route comes to pass. The European Commission wants to end
this inconsistency and do way with all internal border controls in order to
allow free movement from June 15 on, as detailed in a report it
presented Thursday.
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| Source: Contando Estrelas Flickr |
Despite this, the Spanish government
insists that its decisions will be made based on health criteria alone
and that, regional exceptions aside, the plan remains waiting until July 1 before completely opening borders to the rest of Europe. In fact, Spain
continues to prevent full mobility between its own regions. This
situation is due to end by June 22, when the Spanish COVID-19 state of alarm
expires.
Meanwhile, Brussels seems to have
accepted the fact that the opening of borders within the EU will
probably not be completed according to its dictates.
“We understand that reopening on Monday for countries that have not yet decided to do so could be complicated, and that some might take an extra week or two,” Johansson also said.
In other words, the New Normal will not arrive throughout the European Union until July—maybe.
“We understand that reopening on Monday for countries that have not yet decided to do so could be complicated, and that some might take an extra week or two,” Johansson also said.
In other words, the New Normal will not arrive throughout the European Union until July—maybe.
Carlos
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Sources: “Los
turistas alemanes vuelven a Baleares y sin cuarentena: ya hay 47
vuelos programados a partir del lunes,” Hugo Gutierrez, El
País, 12 June 2020 and “EU’s
call to open internal borders by June 15 increases pressure on
Spain,” Álvaro Sánchez, El País English Edition, 11 June
2020.
