The Spanish government has changed its passenger requirements for Covid-19 for anyone arriving from China, with plans to do the same "at a European level".
Earlier this year, health bosses dropped a number of its coronavirus restrictions in a bid to boost tourism again. As of May, fully-vaccinated travellers could enter the country without taking a test.
Previously, those who were not fully-vaccinated were not allowed to visit Spain. But in May, the rules changed so that this group of people would instead have to show a negative test on arrival.
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Further rules were axed in October, when it was announced UK arrivals were no longer required to:
- show proof of being fully vaccinated
- you are no longer required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test
- you are no longer required to show proof of having recovered from COVID-19 in the last 6 months
- you are no longer required to complete a health control form prior to travel
However, health minister Carolina Darias told reporters on Friday that Spain would be reinstating certain measures, and pushing for similar rules at a European level. She said Spain will require all air passengers coming from China to have negative Covid-19 tests or proof of vaccination.
She did not specify when the new requirement will take effect. Spain made the announcement after Italy said it would require coronavirus tests for airline passengers from China.
Health officials from the 27-member European Union on Thursday promised to continue talks on seeking a common approach but held back from imposing restrictions. Ms Darias said: "There exists a shared concern internationally and nationally over the evolution of cases in China and the difficulty to make a correct evaluation of the Covid-19 situation given the scant information that we have available."
She added that China would be lifting travel restrictions from January 8 and there was likely to be a major increase in people travelling abroad. She said the chief concern was the possible emergence of new coronavirus variants and it was important to act fast.
The United States announced new Covid-19 testing requirements on Wednesday for travellers from China, joining some Asian nations that had imposed restrictions. Japan on Friday started requiring tests for passengers arriving from China.
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