Spain extends travel ban on South African nationals yet again

Spain announced a further extension of the travel ban it implemented against the three nations where the highly infectious new COVID-19 variants are prevalent.

On Tuesday 23 February, the Spanish cabinet decided to extend entry restrictions for travellers from South Africa, Brazil and the United Kingdom for another two weeks.

TWO-WEEK EXTENSION TO TRAVEL BAN

Thelocal.se reports that Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said at a news conference that the travel ban would be extended once again. The current travel ban was expected to be lifted on 2 March. It has now been extended for another two weeks, until 16 March.

Spain imposed the ban on the three nations in an effort to limit importation of new COVID-19 variants into Spain. The ban was imposed on British nationals at the end of December 2020, but came into effect on 3 February for South African and Brazilian nationals.

TRAVEL BAN A BID TO LIMIT INFECTIONS

Spain is one of the hardest hit countries during the first wave of COVID-19 infections in 2020 To date, the country has reported more than 3.1 million infections and more than 68,000 deaths. Like many countries, Spain has implemented entry restrictions in order to protect its citizens, hence the travel ban.

“We’re looking to contain infections associated with the COVID variants as far as possible,” Spanish government spokesperson María Jesús Montero said, as quoted by Thelocal.es.

WHO CAN ENTER SPAIN?

Only legal residents and nationals of Spain and neighbouring Andorra are allowed to enter Spain by air at this time.