From December 20th, travellers arriving at the Balearic Islands from the Spanish mainland will need to show the results of a PCR test. The president of the Balearic Islands government, Francina Armengol, announced the new requirement this Friday, which will means that both of Spain's island groups - the Balearics and the Canaries - will soon be demanding Covid-19 checks on arrivals from the rest of the country.
In a press conference after meeting with the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, to discuss a common position on public health checks at airports and ports, Balearic leader Armengol remarked that the new measure has been agreed in consensus with the Canary Islands authorities as well as the Spanish government.
However, the requirement for a negative PCR test result will be especially aimed at tourists from the rest of Spain. The Balearic Islands government will require domestic Spanish tourists to show a negative PCR test, performed no more than 72 hours before the flight.
On the other hand, those who travel to the island for reasons permitted under Spain's state of alarm - that is, work, health care, legal issues, care for the elderly, among others - are only "requested" to produce a negative PCR test, and if they do not, they will be offered the possibility of having an antigen test at the airport or quarantining for 10 days on arrival.
A third group affected are residents of the four Balearic Islands, Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Fomentera. Armengol said that islanders returning home will also be asked to show a negative PCR result on arrival, but they will be able to take a free test before their journey at centres concerted by the Balearics government in other Spanish regions. As a second option, they will also be able to take an antigen test at the airport or carry out a ten-day quarantine.
Free test for Canaries
Similarly, Canary Islands autonomous president Ángel Víctor Torres has announced that residents of his island group who are currently in mainland Spain, whether students or not, will be able to take a free diagnostic test for coronavirus before returning home for Christmas. The cost will be covered by the Canary Islands authorities.
Torres indicated that these tests will be given free of charge at a series of laboratories that will be designated today, Friday, located in major cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Salamanca and Navarra. In the event of arriving on the islands without the aforementioned test, residents will be able to take an antigen test at the airport.
In addition, the president said that travellers from the Spanish mainland who arrive on the islands for non-tourism purposes will also have to take the aforementioned test at their places of origin, but in their case, they will have to pay for it themselves. Nevertheless, if they travel to the archipelago without the test, they will also be tested for antigens on arrival, without penalty.
The Canary Islands leader said that at "the beginning of next week, if possible on Monday", the corresponding government order will be promulgated so that Canary Island residents living on the Iberian Peninsula can make appointments at the designated laboratories tp take the test. The entry of the force of this requirement for the Atlantic Ocean archipelago will be on Friday 18th or Sunday 20th at the latest.
Canary Islands approve antigen tests for international arrivals
On Thursday, the Canary Islands government announced that for international arrivals to the archipelago, a rapid antigen test would now be sufficient instead of a PCR test. In the rest of Spain, arrivals from countries with Covid-19 indicators at high levels are required to have a negative PCR result from a test carried out less than 72 hours before their flight.