All travellers reaching Spain from China now need to present negative COVID-19 test results, or proof of complete vaccination against the virus, with any of the vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). As informed by a news report in Schengen Visa. The move to impose such a restriction on arrivals from China on Spain’s side follows Italy’s decision to impose COVID-19 testing on travellers from China, which has resulted with over half of those getting tested, resulting infected with the virus.

In a press release issued on December 30, the Spanish Ministry of Health has revealed that due to concerns that have aroused as a result of the increase in the number of COVID-19 infections in China, after the latter finally reopened its borders after three years, on 7 December, Spain has decided to impose such preventive restrictions.

In a Twitter thread publishing the order on the new measures, the Ministry has noted that travellers from China will go through a documentary, visual and temperature control, in addition to performing a diagnostic test for active infection by SARS-CoV-2, at the point of entry into Spain.

“The resolution also provides for the requirement of an EU Digital COVID Certificate (CCD-UE) or equivalent to all passengers on flights from China from next January 3,” the Ministry points out adding that for now, the measures will be in place until February 15, 2023.

The new restrictions will only affect travellers on flights from the mainland People’s Republic of China, which means that travellers from other places as Hong Kong will not be affected.

Commenting on the newly imposed measures, the country’s Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has insisted on the importance of full and updated vaccination against COVID-19 for the Spanish people, adding that up until now, 94 per cent of people older than 60 have already received their first booster vaccine in this country. 55 per cent of those over 60 and 73 per cent of those over 80 have been inoculated with a booster dose, as well.

Italy was the first country to impose restrictions on travellers from China, and now France, the United Kingdom and Spain have followed doing the same in Europe. Other world countries have also imposed similar measures, including Israel and Japan.

“On December 28, 2022, Minister Orazio Schillaci ordered mandatory Covid-19 antigenic swabs and, in case of positivity, molecular testing for virus sequencing, for all passengers coming from China and transiting through Italy,” the Ministry of Health of Italy announced in a statement published on the same day, though testing of passengers arriving from China had already started at the Malpensa airport in Milan on December 26.

The Spanish Ministry of Health, on the meantime, is calling on the EU for the Integrated Political Response Device to Crises (RPIC Device) to adopt a common position on entry restrictions for travellers from China, and review the possibility of requesting them a COVID Digital Certificate for entry on any of the EU countries.