Spain will allow European travelers having ” Digital Green Certificates ” ( Covid-19 vaccine passport ) to enter without quarantine and coronavirus tests, the announcement made on Thursday by Alfredo González, the general secretary of Digital Health, Information and Innovation at the country’s National Health System.
The document will come in the form of a free QR code, will be available by the end of June, and will allow for “more people” to arrive in the country “in a safer manner,” he explained.
The Health Ministry has been insisting that the document will facilitate movement, but had not yet clarified exactly what it would consist of. González explained that it will be a digital and physical document, with a QR code that will allow a country’s authorities to check three different pieces of information: if the bearer has been vaccinated, if they have had the coronavirus and if they have had a test that confirms they are not currently infected with the virus.
For the purposes of the Digital Green Certificates, a person will be considered to have immunity during the period after a positive test spanning from the 11th day to the sixth month. In terms of the vaccines, it will be necessary for the future to establish how long their effects last. This will be evaluated bit by bit, González explained.
“This certificate is not a passport, it’s not a travel document, and it’s not a requirement for travel,” the general secretary said on Thursday. “It’s a mechanism that will facilitate mobility in the European Union. It will respect data protection, safety, and privacy. It is planned so that it will not be discriminatory, and that is one of the major advantages,” he added, expressing his confidence that it will be a great help for the summer tourism season in Spain.
The plan is part of the government’s strategy for this year, during which the authorities are forecasting that 40 million foreign visitors will arrive. This would be double the number that came last year when the coronavirus pandemic first hit, but half the number that came in 2019.
