TRAVEL: The new rules for filling in Spain's Health Control Form

On Wednesday April 6th 2022 the Spanish government announced that it would be dropping the need for all travellers to fill out the Health Control Form before arrival in the country.

Previously, every traveller entering Spain, including anyone arriving in transit, from any country, was required to complete the form in order to receive a QR code to present at the airport upon arrival. 

As of April 6th, all travellers with an EU Digital Covid Certificate or equivalent from a non-EU country will simply have to show their certificate upon arrival, without having to complete the Health Control Form as well.

Before flying however, you should check that your equivalent certificate is valid for entry, otherwise you will still be required to complete the form and download the associated QR code to show at the airport.  

Now, when you visit Spain’s SpTH Health Control website, you will see two options – a yellow button for those who have an EU Digital Certificate or equivalent and a blue button for those who don’t (see below).

Children under the age of 12 and passengers in international transit do not have to show a certificate or SpTH QR code. 

The changes to Spain's Health Control Form (called Formulario de Control Sanitario in Spanish, FCS) were published in Spain's official state bulletin BOE. 

So far, 37 non-EU countries (and territories) have joined the EU Digital COVID Certificate system, meaning that their equivalent certificates are accepted in the EU under the same conditions as the EU Digital COVID Certificate. Likewise, the EU Digital COVID Certificate is accepted by those 37 countries.

The list includes countries such as the UK, New Zealand, Israel, Singapore and Malaysia, but does not include the US, Canada or Australia.

Here is the full list of countries whose travellers with Covid certificates equivalent to the EU's don't have to complete the SpTH form:

Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Benin
Cabo Verde
Colombia
El Salvador
Faroe Islands
Georgia
Israel
Iceland
Jordan
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Malaysia
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Morocco
New Zealand
North Macedonia
Norway
Panama
San Marino
Serbia
Singapore
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Tunisia
Togo
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man)
Uruguay
The Vatican

 

You can also double-check here on the EU website in case more countries are added.

Check your certificate before travel

If you are unsure if your certificate is valid for entry to Spain or whether you still need to complete the Health Control Form, click on the yellow button that says ‘EU Digital Certificate or EU equivalent' to check or click here.

First, you will need to introduce your date of arrival in Spain and indicate the country of origin of your trip, before uploading your certificate to the site.

The site will then tell if your certificate is valid or if you still need to complete the form.

You will have to show your Digital Covid Certificate, equivalent certificate or Health Control Form QR code before boarding your flight to Spain and again at the airport upon arrival.

When you arrive at the airport in Spain, the Spain Travel Health website states that if you have an EU Digital Certificate or EU equivalent you should follow the Orange path and if you do not, you must follow the Blue path and present your QR code from the health form.