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Spain stops requiring Covid health control form from all travellers 

The Local Spain
The Local Spain - [email protected]
Spain stops requiring Covid health control form from all travellers 
The EU doesn't have a certificate equivalence agreement with the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa or Australia for example, so this announcement will make travel to Spain for nationals from these countries and many others that bit easier. (Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP)

Spain has further eased its Covid travel restrictions by exempting all third-country nationals from having to fill in its health control form before arriving in the country, a decision which will benefit Americans, Australians and Canadians among other international travellers. 

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From Tuesday September 20th 2021, Spain no longer requires any international passengers arriving by air or sea in the country to complete and show a Covid health control form. 

The SpTH form, which was first introduced in July 2022, had to be filled in online before travel to Spain and included the passenger’s Covid vaccination/testing/recovery status, their contact details and other information.

Upon arriving at a Spanish airport or sea port, passengers would have to show the document, which included a QR code, in order to enter Spain. 

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The Spanish government's decision to scrap the SpTH form, which was announced in Monday’s State Bulletin (BOE), “aims to favour the normalisation of international mobility" and comes as a result of this document “no longer being considered necessary” as a means of controlling Covid-19 infections. 

In April 2022, the Spanish government decided that travellers with an EU Digital Covid Certificate and those with third-country certificates approved by the EU (currently 48 countries) no longer needed to fill in Spain’s health control form. 

The latest announcement means that all international travellers, regardless of which non-EU country they’re from, don’t have to fill in the form before travelling to Spain or show it upon arrival.

The EU doesn't have a certificate equivalence agreement with the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa or Australia for example, so this announcement will make travel to Spain for nationals from these countries and many others that bit easier.

On the other hand, the United Kingdom does have an agreement with the EU regarding Covid certificate recognition, so nothing changes for UK nationals visiting Spain. 

The Spain Travel Health website and app, on which the health control form could be completed and which also included relevant travel information, “will no longer be operational” as of Tuesday 20th either. 

Spain eased many of its domestic and travel restrictions in the lead-up to the 2022 summer period as it attempted to recoup the millions of tourists it lost during the pandemic. 

However, Pedro Sánchez’s government recently extended until November 15th the requirement that states that travellers from non-EU countries must have a Covid-19 vaccination, test or recovery certificate to enter Spain.

This, together with the ongoing requirement to wear a mask on planes, ferries and other means of transport which are Spain-bound, remain the two outstanding Covid travel restrictions which are still in place in Spain. 

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Anonymous 2022/09/20 21:25
I think you mean from Sept. 20, 2022.

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