We're booked to fly to Mallorca from Birmingham in October.
Can anyone advise me on what,s involved/procedures etc.
Also recommendations on companies to use.
Thanks in anticipation.
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The government site is the best place to keep an eye on requirements.
www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/entry-requirements#entry-rules-in-response-to-coronavirus-covid-19
It links to pages which tell you you what is required for entry to Spain and what is required when you come back. I've not included the links as they may change. (I am travelling to Portugal soon and there are paperwork requirements as well as tests. They take it seriously too, apparently)
You can prebook all of these tests if you want. The government has published a list of test providers www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gov.uk/find-travel-test-provider&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw1wE8ZU3t0lzAweU7ahfmUL but is in the process of overhauling it due to some unreliabilities. I gather cheap isn't always best...
As far as tests go, currently Spain is Amber (same as Portugal) so my belief is you require a fit-to-fly test within 48 hours of departure to Spain, then another one while you are in Spain 48 hours before you return, then you have to take a test within 2 days of arrival back in the UK. You should also check with your airline who may have additional advice or requirements.
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Is a test necessary to get into Spain? I thought is was the same as France (where I’ve just come back from) where all that’s required is proof you’ve been double vaccinated.
Travelling to France was remarkably straightforward, and though not entirely necessary I did download the French #TousAntiCovid app and upload my vaccination details (just scan the NHS QR code) on the basis that I’d then have proof that ought to be accepted Europe wide if needed.
There’s a bit of theatre around the return to the UK though; you’ll need to complete a Passenger Locator Form, easily done online, and show proof of a negative PCR or antigen test on check-in for your return. I just got one from a pharmacy/lab in Epernay. Was €29 and I collected the result same day. You also need to ‘prove’ you’ve booked a day 2 COVID test on return, and the booking reference is required for the Passenger Locator Form. The form checks the format of the reference, so you can’t just make a number up. However, if the format is correct it doesn’t check it’s a valid reference…
The biggest problem I encountered, at the eurotunnel, as massive delays that appeared to be caused by people either not filling in the forms or not having the negative COVID test. When I checked in and had everything to hand I was through in under a minute; she did comment that I was one of the few that was actually organised though…
Have fun and enjoy the sunshine!
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Oh, and I’m going to Greece the week after next where again, if you’ve been double vaccinated, no test is required to enter the country. Same process on return as from France, though the hotel I’m staying is throwing in a ‘free’ COVID test for the return flight. I’ll use the same booking reference for the day 2 test as the return from France ;)
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Oh yes, reading the govt page it seems Spain's entry requirements are different to Portugal's - Portugal won't accept a non-EU statement of vaccination hence the need for an inbound test.
Peter, SWMBO reckons you have to have booked your 2 day test for after your return before you travel out but I think it just needs to be done before you travel back.
What's your opinion? As I'm away for nearly 6 weeks I don't want to book too much in advance as the rules may change.
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 6 Sep 21 at 10:03
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>> What's your opinion? As I'm away for nearly 6 weeks I don't want to book
>> too much in advance as the rules may change.
No one is going to check you’ve booked your return COVID test on the way out, as as far as I can see there’s no requirement to do so. You might prefer to for ease though…but of course rules might change (either way) and it not be necessary, so I wouldn’t and didn’t book in advance. You need the reference number from the booking for the passenger locator form however, so you need to book it before you return. Or, have a booking reference number to hand that the form will accept…
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 6 Sep 21 at 10:44
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OK, that's what I thought, ta
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The following might be of use…it’s probably not exhaustive, but it’s a handy reference point for sources of the different types of test and costs :
www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/incident/coronavirus/covid19-tests
Last edited by: PeterS on Mon 6 Sep 21 at 10:46
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Lots of my friends are currently in either France or Spain....some have been travelling out every month and spending 2 weeks in warmer climes before flying home. Taking full advantage of cheap Ryanair flights @ €10/15 a pop.
Of the 12+ friends who’ve flown over to France, Spain or the Balearics they all tell me it’s completely hassle free.
Far more expensive car hire has been the only negative.
Friends took their 4 children to Malta on holiday last month...he told me the face on the check in desk girl dropped when they arrived, but he had all his ducks in a row and breezed through.
Biggest problem seems to be passport dates. DYOR.
A friends works on the Jet2 check in desks....several numpties a week turning up with their invalid cardboard vaccination cards, no idea what a passenger locator form is etc.
They’re normally half drunk groups of young girls whose lips arrive at the desk 10 seconds before the rest of their bodies. His words not mine.
I daren’t post what he and his colleagues reference them as.
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>> They’re normally half drunk groups of young girls whose lips arrive at the desk 10
>> seconds before the rest of their bodies. His words not mine.
>> I daren’t post what he and his colleagues reference them as.
A bouncer, sorry "licensed door supervisor" I know rates them by SPF factor.
Sink plunger faces
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 6 Sep 21 at 11:03
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right now, i really couldnt' be bothered with all the extra agro and uncertainty of trying to grab a couple of weeks abroad.
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Right now I can’t wait to get out to Spain next month for 45 days. My only regret is that in October 2020 it was for 70 days.
10 min walk to the beach, morning swim, dry off in the sun, breakfast back on the roof terrace in my rental. Bring it on.
No offence Z...we all have different priorities.
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>> No offence Z...we all have different priorities.
Which is why I said I could do without all the hassle. My idea of a trip is my cheap as chips hire car parked outside a beach bar guzzling beer and snacking Tapas in the sun an hour after landing at an airport.
And grabbing my car from the UK airport an hour after landing, not spending 3-4 hours in a queue mingling with Britains great unwashed trying to get past UK border force.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 6 Sep 21 at 13:03
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Flying is always an a***, whatever the journey or conditions.
It all depends on how much you want, or indeed need, to travel.
I dislike travel, I've done far too much of it. Consequently I only travel if I really want to be somewhere. And then the irritating challenges we have currently are not sufficient to deter me.
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>> Flying is always an a***, whatever the journey or conditions.
>>
>>
Is the correct answer.
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For you.
I’ve always enjoyed long haul travel. Until recent events I visited my northern CA based friends twice a year.
Up at 3AM to catch the 06:15 LBA>AMS KLM flight, then two further Star Alliance flights to Sacramento via airports on the western seaboard.
I enjoyed the whole experience. Take off. Landing. Flying over Greenland and Canada. Inflight films. Never tired of it. And that’s flying cattle class.
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>> For you.
>>
Absolutely, I only state my own opinion on here, rather than that of others :-)
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I find sitting in an airplane seat boring. Not very difficult, but boring. I certainly don't see in flight movies as something to look forward to, I have a TV at home.
Queues, lines, airport food, check-in, customs, shuttles, car parks, baggage reclaim, packing, and everything else is an unbelievable pain in the a*** which I am only prepared to tolerate if I really want to be somewhere.
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>> I’ve always enjoyed long haul travel. Until recent events I visited my northern CA base friends twice a year.
At its worst I was doing at least 2 long haul flights per week. At 2 a year Iight have got less hacked off with it too.
Being somewhere new or loved is, or can be, an adventure. Flying there is an a***.
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p. s. I am writing this having just an hour ago got off a long haul flight. I have now 6 or so short haul flights to look forward to before getting on another long haul flight.
Yuk.
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For me it was only twice a year...three flights per leg. I’ve always had an interest in aviation, wanting to be a RN helicopter pilot when younger, and a good friend with whom I used to go plane spotting with had a long career in ATC.
Plus plenty of short haul European flights, probably about 30 a year as once a month we had a long weekend away.
Wallace Arnold used to run day trip coaches from Bradford to Heathrow for plane spotters...think I was about 12/13yo. More child neglect !!!
And it’s always exciting visiting my CA friends...non stop fun.
The current Caldor fire has been terrible...20k evacuations from Tahoe, and my friends in Placerville have been accommodating evacuees in their home, and allowing others to camp on their lawn.
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>> p. s. I am writing this having just an hour ago got off a long
>> haul flight. I have now 6 or so short haul flights to look forward to
>> before getting on another long haul flight.
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>> Yuk.
>>
I am much more tolerant of long haul flights than short. The hassle is the same, or worse even, for short haul without, often, enough of a benefit. Train or driving far more pleasant for sub 1.000 mile journeys. Mind you, valet parking, fast track, lounges and turning left do take the edge off long-haul travel. Without them I’m not sure I’d be as relaxed ;)
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Turning left et al makes it way more acceptable or tolerable. It still doesn't make it good and I still don't like it, but fair to say it makes it considerable less hateful.
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Country specific info for entry into Spain
travelsafe.spain.info/en/
The biggest problems are thickos and numpties on the flight with you. Other than that the process is really easy as long as you have ALL the forms completed and printed. Arguably you can use the forms electronically from your phone. Don't, print them and avoid difficulties.
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>> printed. Arguably you can use the forms electronically from your phone. Don't, print them and
>> avoid difficulties.
Several copies, you just know some will go walkies or be taken by an over officious official
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>> Several copies, you just know some will go walkies or be taken by an over
>> officious official
The only hard copy paperwork I had coming back for France was the COVID test result from Epernay, and the only person interested in that was the eurotunnel check-in person. Even then I got it back. U.K. Border Force didn’t even ask to see it, or the passenger locator form, which I only had electronically. Again, the check-in staff wanted to see it, but were happy with it on my phone. Along with the QR code showing I’d been double vaccinated. So I don’t think it’s as bad as you imagine!
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 8 Sep 21 at 02:38
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Hope you had a nice trip....how did the car behave ? I believe it’s a Benz cabrio...really like them in white with the red fabric roof ?
Ultimate thread drift.
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>> Hope you had a nice trip....how did the car behave ? I believe it’s a
>> Benz cabrio...really like them in white with the red fabric roof ?
>>
>> Ultimate thread drift.
I worry about you LL, for a roughty toughty northern type, I think you covet a career in the salon with the curling tongs,,,,,,,
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>> Hope you had a nice trip....how did the car behave ? I believe it’s a
>> Benz cabrio...really like them in white with the red fabric roof ?
>>
>> Ultimate thread drift.
>>
Bar the puncture, the car was great. Suits the bright sunshine and blue skies - really brings the best of the colour out! Though mines not white with a red roof, it’s red (or as MB in Nuit St George called it, burgundy) with a dark red roof
www.dropbox.com/s/floctz0m2iw9vi3/DF764FAA-0B99-4730-A953-C9FFC3729686.jpeg?dl=0
Remains a very relaxing car to do long distances in; covered around 1,400 miles at an average speed of 48 mph and 36.2 mpg. Nice big boot so plenty of room for wine. Car’s now a little dustier and has considerably more squished flies on the front of it, but otherwise all fine. It’s now done a little over 21,000 miles in 2 years, fewer miles per year than we used to do, but then the last 24 months have been very very different. It needs servicing shortly, which is always an expensive. Unlike BMW / MINI these call for annual services…the MINI has had one service in 3 years…this’ll need 3.
Coming back to COVID, while the TousAntiCovid app was essential in hotels, restaurants, bars etc the MB dealer had far less theatre than seems to be the case here. All staff were wearing masks in front of customers, but there was none of the car key sanitising, hand gel, floor markings and signage that seem to have sprung up in the UK. In fact, given the labour rates, I’m tempted to take the car back there for its service :)
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Nice. Very nice. Engine ...?
I’ve always had a thing for soft tops after a late teens brief dalliance with an old Frogeye Sprite. Loved my Spitfire which I kept for 3 years. Then a Mk 1 Elise, bought new, kept for 3 years ( a present to self after divorce ) then the 330 convertible, which I kept for 4 years.
Probably need a second car though ( cheap old Mondeo Estate) as I’m now building log stores for friends pre winter, so need room for pallets and long lengths of timber.
They’re not any old log store mind. Proper custom made jobs with feather board on the roof, 3x3 tannelised uprights, pallet base and pallet slats on sides and rear. Proper M & S log stores.
I can see another cabrio in my life before I croak....next month in fact. A friend is lending me his elderly Megane cabrio whilst in Spain. Complete with peeling lacquer, dings, dents and scrapes. Perfecto.
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We’ve had a convertible of some sort or another for almost 20 years now, and I do like them. This ones a 350, which only has a 2 litre turbocharged mild hybrid engine. 300 bhp and 400Nm, with a ‘boost’ of 10 bhp and 140Nm for short bursts with the 48v hybrid stuff. Quick enough for me, and a decent range as well since it’ll easily do over 35mpg.
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<<< A friend is lending me his elderly Megane cabrio whilst in Spain. Complete with peeling lacquer, dings, dents and scrapes. Perfecto.>>>
Assuming it is Spanish registered, is it legal for you to drive it on a UK licence?
In france it would not be! (Assuming french regd and owned).
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>>In france it would not be! (Assuming french regd and owned).
How does one drive a rental car then?
I used ti drive a French car in France without issue, though that was a few years ago.
The only complication I am aware of in Spain is that a British person officially resident in Spain may not have a UK registered car in the country.
I often, very often, drive Spanish cars in Spain and I do not have a Spanish licence
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 8 Sep 21 at 16:40
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>>>How does one drive a rental car then?>>>
Rental cars are treated differently.
In France there are still many French registered cars belonging to British second home owners all apparently insured and regularly driven by UK licence holders. In France you are not allowed to register a car to an address that is not your primary address. Despite the rules, the insurance companies do not seem to question the people taking out the cover. .
Some (but maybe not all?) insurance companies also limit the driving to holders of an appropriate EU licence. What for example do your insurers say about foreign licence holders driving your UK car?
The interpretation seems to vary widely - rules may also be different in different EU countrie, but the key question is whether insurers will try to duck the claim when faced for example with a large personal injury claim. Is your mate a bona fide Spanish resident?
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Wed 8 Sep 21 at 19:22
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Covid Testing Airports - smokie
