Tourism in Spain was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, travel advisories from various countries and a natural disaster making headlines worldwide
Beginning next year, travelers from the U.S. will need to obtain an ETIAS visa waiver in order to travel to Spain. The ETIAS for Spain is an electronic travel authorization that can be obtained online in lieu of a visa from a Spanish Embassy.
Spain entry requirements for US citizens govern whether an ETIAS application will be approved or denied. Therefore, travelers must make every effort to ensure these requirements are satisfied before submitting their ETIAS application for traveling to Spain.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, travel around the world has changed significantly due to enhanced safety and security protocols in place to curb the spread of the disease.
There are COVID-19 related restrictions in place in all countries of the world due to the pandemic, with some of the toughest restrictions in place for Americans visiting the EU, regardless of their vaccination status.
How Has The COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Spain?
Before the pandemic, Spain attracted millions of tourists from all over the world, and Spaniards themselves engaged in a lot of domestic tourism.
Undoubtedly, the tourism industry in Spain has been hard hit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic with record low numbers of foreign travelers visiting the country compared to pre-pandemic levels.
During the summer months, tourism in Spain was down 97% according to the data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) impacting jobs and resulting in a loss of an important source of revenue for the country.
Outbreaks of the coronavirus, travel advisories from various countries, and natural disasters provide a grim outlook for tourism to Spain in the last few months of 2021.
Traveling to Spain from The U.S. During the Pandemic
U.S. Citizens who wish to travel to Spain currently need to provide proof of vaccination before making travel arrangements. However, the difficulties of traveling in a pandemic are not just related to the traveler’s vaccination status.
Quarantining when traveling to a new destination can also add complications of its own as travelers who test positive for COVID-19 while visiting a new country may need to quarantine longer than originally planned.
Most of the destinations around the world currently require travelers to quarantine in a hotel, government facility, or other authorized locations at their own expense. Travelers to Spain must also quarantine at their own expense while visiting the country.
This can add a financial strain on U.S. Citizens attempting to travel back from Spain after receiving a positive COVID-19 test result. Currently, travelers are required to quarantine for an additional 7-10 days for which they may not have planned for when making travel arrangements.
The U.S. Embassy in Spain is a great resource for American travelers aiming to visit Spain safely, however, travelers should be aware that the embassy is unable to provide financial support in cases where travelers must quarantine longer than expected due to a positive COVID test result.
How the Delta Variant Is Impacting Travel to Spain
Spain is no longer in a state of emergency. It has enacted various measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus including wearing face masks while in public and when indoors and social distancing isn’t possible.
Over 70 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Spain. Establishments and businesses that operate at or near tourist attractions have been provided strict safety guidelines to welcome tourists back to the country.
The recent surge in the Delta variant also made travelers apprehensive about visiting Spain. However, COVID-19 infections of the Delta variant are now on the decline due to increased vaccine administration among the Spanish population.
How the Volcanic Eruptions At La Palma Affecting Tourism to Spain
Last month, the Cabeza de Vaca volcano erupted in Spain, which caused massive amounts of lava to make its way through the Spanish island of La Palma, forcing evacuations of its residents and the entire island being declared a disaster zone.
While it seems to have hit the tourism industry pretty deeply on the mainland, a new sort of tourism is emerging in its place called “volcano tourism”. Journalists, volcanologists, as well as tourists curious to witness an active volcanic eruption are driving tourism to the Canary island.
This new form of tourism is unprecedented when compared to the pre-pandemic levels when the island would only get a few hundred thousand visitors each year.
Even though this new form of tourism is breathing life into an area devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts by emergency personnel and security forces to bring the situation under control are also being complicated due to the presence of tourists on the island.
It remains to be seen whether this will be the big break the Spanish authorities have been looking for in their efforts to bring tourism to Spain back to pre-pandemic levels.