Twenty-four hours after European countries began doing so, Spain has finally moved against the new strain of the coronavirus detected in the United Kingdom. As reported this Monday at noon, and in concert with Portugal, the Pedro Sánchez government has agreed to suspend incoming flights from the United Kingdom as of tomorrow Tuesday, except those carrying Spanish citizens or residents. Similarly, at the Spanish border with Gibraltar - where the new English strain of the virus has already been detected - controls will be toughened. Other European countries such as Germany and Belgium took similar actions against arrivals from Britain on Sunday.
The Spanish decision came after a meeting of the European Union crisis mechanism, which today analyzed the effects of the new Covid-19 strain, and called for all non-essential travel to be avoided. Madrid favoured coordination of the action by the entire Union bloc, although prior to the meeting close to half the EU member states had already taken their own unilateral decisions.
The Spanish government palace emphasized that the measure was adopted "in concert with Portugal." Spanish PM Sánchez held a conversation this afternoon with his opposite number Antonio Costa, while health minister Salvador Illa did the same with his Portuguese counterpart, Marta Temido.
It was also announced that Spanish controls on the border with Gibraltar would be tightened. In fact, this Monday afternoon, British authorities announced that at least one case of the new strain had been detected in the Mediterranean territory.
❗El Gobierno de España, de manera concertada con Portugal, suspenderá desde mañana las entradas en territorio español de ciudadanos procedentes del Reino Unido, salvo nacionales o residentes en nuestro país.
— La Moncloa (@desdelamoncloa) December 21, 2020
Se reforzará también el control fronterizo en Gibraltar. pic.twitter.com/PxzIBBVAD3
Translation:
"The Spanish government has decided to suspend incoming flights from the United Kingdom.
- From 22nd December 2020
- Except citizens and residents of our country
- Control of the border with Gibraltar will also be reinforced." — Spanish government
The Spanish government underlines that, prior to the cancellation of flights, security controls are already in force, requiring any traveller arriving from a country at risk to show border officials a PCR test with a negative result. The test must have been carried out within 72 hours of arrival in Spanish territory, and this applies to arrivals at all airports and seaports.
Initial reluctance
The Spanish government decided on Sunday not to suspend flights from the United Kingdom despite the risk of spreading the new strain of Covid-19. Instead of following the same line of action as other European countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland, Spain decided only to reinforce the verification checks in ports and airports of PCR tests for people who come from British territory. Spanish authorities spoke of "the need for coordinated [EU] action on flights from the UK."