Winter in Spain

[John H]

We are heading down to Cabo de Gata in January so have been looking at the travel restrictions, there is a lot of speculation out there including that you cant drive away from Santander or Bilbao unless you are travelling home. I have found nothing official to substantiate that, I also found that you can transit Madrid, just cant stop.
Its the 'doing it for holiday reasons' that I'm struggling to find wether thats acceptable a reason

Well I can give you a definitive answer to the rumour about Bilbao on Wednesday because some friends are on the ferry now and are due to get here Wed afternoon. I can't imagine that it is true, though.

I know that travel in and out of Madrid is only allowed for restricted reasons but I have also heard that transit is allowed.

PS the latest advice on the Government website says that transit across the whole country is allowed provided that the destination is not in a restricted area (ie Madrid) - therefore the rumour about Bilbao and Santander appears to be completely unfounded. We certainly haven't had any frantic messages from our friends saying that they can't get here

 

[mfw]

Think it is a gamble if you can afford sit around then just go for it if you have a pet with you it could cause additional problems so really it is going to be down to if you feel lucky or not

 

[mid4did]

We're not travelling that way until it,s much safer,possibly march/april.
I dont think either of us could manage walking far wearing masks,copd /asthma.There are a few still enjoying the sunshine.
Orange grove on facebook

 

[REC]

We have just booked the tunnel for December to travel to our place in Portugal. We have five year residence permits for Portugal. Having trouble finding if we will need to quarantine when transiting from France to Spain. I did see that the French curfew does not restrict transiting drivers, but we wouldn't be on the road between 21.00-06.00 anyway. Declaration needed for France, ....and for Spain? It's confusing online as gets updated so often....will be looking on a regular basis till we go!

 

[jacquigem]

I

We have just booked the tunnel for December to travel to our place in Portugal. We have five year residence permits for Portugal. Having trouble finding if we will need to quarantine when transiting from France to Spain. I did see that the French curfew does not restrict transiting drivers, but we wouldn't be on the road between 21.00-06.00 anyway. Declaration needed for France, ....and for Spain? It's confusing online as gets updated so often....will be looking on a regular basis till we go!

Not aware of any quarantine restrictions when entering Spain from France by road. Not even sure if border is monitored. Some regulations if flying in I think

 

[John H]

We have just booked the tunnel for December to travel to our place in Portugal. We have five year residence permits for Portugal. Having trouble finding if we will need to quarantine when transiting from France to Spain. I did see that the French curfew does not restrict transiting drivers, but we wouldn't be on the road between 21.00-06.00 anyway. Declaration needed for France, ....and for Spain? It's confusing online as gets updated so often....will be looking on a regular basis till we go!

The only form we needed to fill in was the French "sworn statement" which is one sheet of A4 and can be printed off from the French Government website. This we had to hand in at Passport Control in Newhaven, although others who used the Tunnel have reported that they were not asked for any forms. If you are arriving in Spain by sea or air, there is a declaration you have to sign but if you arrive by land then there are no restrictions https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/entry-requirements. It seems that you only have to declare at the EU State you enter by. There are no quarantine restrictions for people entering Spain from another EU State or the UK.

 

[John H]

We're not travelling that way until it,s much safer,possibly march/april.
I dont think either of us could manage walking far wearing masks,copd /asthma.There are a few still enjoying the sunshine.
Orange grove on facebook

Depends what you mean by safe. If you transit the badly affected areas in the motorhome then it is as if you hadn't been there (unless you stop). Here in the Cabo de Gata region of Spain, cases are as low as anywhere (lower than most). As far as masks are concerned, Spain has the same exemptions as the UK - but you have to carry a note from your doctor saying that you suffer from asthma etc. But we must all do whatever makes us feel safest.

 

[mfw]

Spain has the same exemptions as the UK - but you have to carry a note from your doctor saying that you suffer from asthma etc. But we must all do whatever makes us feel safest.

Have to say if you are at risk person and allowed by doctor to be exempt from wearing a mask you are playing with fire if you risk travelling - you should be staying at home purely for your own safety

 

[John H]

Have to say if you are at risk person and allowed by doctor to be exempt from wearing a mask you are playing with fire if you risk travelling - you should be staying at home purely for your own safety

Can't argue with that - I was simply pointing out the rules. As I said, we must all do what makes us feel safest. But remember - masks don't protect you; they protect other people from you

 

[Derekoak]

Aragon Asturias and the Basque join Navarre and Rioja in sealing their borders from Monday night / Tuesday morn in each case initially for a fortnight Andalucia suggested they may do soon. Transiting through may be allowed whether tourism counts I am not sure. Catalonia is suggesting weekend confinement to home.

 

[2cv]

This article details the latest situation.

 

[John H]

We are heading down to Cabo de Gata in January so have been looking at the travel restrictions, there is a lot of speculation out there including that you cant drive away from Santander or Bilbao unless you are travelling home. I have found nothing official to substantiate that, I also found that you can transit Madrid, just cant stop.
Its the 'doing it for holiday reasons' that I'm struggling to find wether thats acceptable a reason

Well, our friends have arrived - knackered but otherwise ok (I wouldn't like to do Bilbao to Almeria with only one stop!). They report no problems at all getting here, so it seems that the government website was more accurate than the internet rumours and newspaper reports ). Their ferry docked in Bilbao after the latest restrictions were invoked, so their experience reflects the up-to-date situation. The rule is quite simple - transit across Spain is allowed from anywhere to anywhere as long as neither the origin or destination are in a restricted zone (and the ferry counts as a non-restricted zone). In fact, the rule was similar during the extreme lockdown in March, so I would have been very surprised if it had been more severe this time. The weather is great, the wine is flowing and the Cabo de Gata region remains as Covid-free as anywhere (we are all still taking the obvious precautions though - to keep it that way).

PS Santander is in Cantabria, which has not yet announced any restrictions, so you could even stop there before travelling on south (unless the rules change, of course!).

 

[mfw]

Well i would not celebrate it does not matter who you are problems can arise - shower blocks aren't all they seem - and i apologise for that statement - but crap will hit fan at some point in my view - but we all have our views and no offence/baiting meant

 

[John H]

Well i would not celebrate it does not matter who you are problems can arise - shower blocks aren't all they seem - and i apologise for that statement - but crap will hit fan at some point in my view - but we all have our views and no offence/baiting meant

We take precautions but we refuse to be paranoid. Life is for enjoying but without being unnecessarily reckless. Even if you stay at home and have no outside contact with anyone you can still be unlucky (we all have to eat) so be careful but don't be paranoid is my message - if you are interested.

 

[mfw]

We take precautions but we refuse to be paranoid. Life is for enjoying but without being unnecessarily reckless. Even if you stay at home and have no outside contact with anyone you can still be unlucky (we all have to eat) so be careful but don't be paranoid is my message - if you are interested.

Not knocking you each to their own and we all have different obligations but i would not encourage people to do it

 

[John H]

Not knocking you each to their own and we all have different obligations but i would not encourage people to do it

I'm neither encouraging nor discouraging - simply correcting spurious information so that people can make up their own minds on the basis of the facts.

 

[Derekoak]

Catalunia was thinking of, weekend confined to your home lockdown, so we have moved to Valencia community region. The only time we are indoors with others is once a week in a supermarket everyone wearing masks. That is as safe as home.
My brother tells me that Spain has said that in case of no deal an international drivers licence IDL will not be needed by Uk citizens , France not yet. In case of a thin deal no Eu country will need IDL.

 

[mfw]

I'm neither encouraging nor discouraging - simply correcting spurious information so that people can make up their own minds on the basis of the facts.

Firm believer in looking after no1 me but swmbo has probs and i also have a dog to consider and it is hard work

 

[John H]

Catalunia was thinking of, weekend confined to your home lockdown, so we have moved to Valencia community region. The only time we are indoors with others is once a week in a supermarket everyone wearing masks. That is as safe as home.
My brother tells me that Spain has said that in case of no deal an international drivers licence IDL will not be needed by Uk citizens , France not yet. In case of a thin deal no Eu country will need IDL.

I agree - we all have to eat and I reckon our contact with others is probably less here than it is at home. But, as I said earlier, we must all do what we feel is safest.

Just to expand on the IDP thing - Spain has said that from 1st January, we will not need an IDP for nine months. After that, you will only need an IDP if you have permission to stay in the country for six months or more. So, us ordinary mortals who are subject to the 90 day rule from Jan 1st onward will not need one. As you say, France has not yet made a decision.

 

[redhand]

The IDP thing is at least some good news hopefully the dog rules will be straightforward too