No tourists until after summer

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gruff
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby gruff » Tue May 25, 2021 9:38 am

Looking at that link Mark it gives the impression they only offer PCR test. I believe a lateral test with documentation is all that is required.

zanuck
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby zanuck » Tue May 25, 2021 10:15 am

Thanks for the link Mark, we'll need our test done on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, with a certainty of getting the results back by Saturday evening ahead of the ferry on Sunday afternoon, we weren't planning to get to Bilbao until Saturday evening, so a test down south is our preferred option.

Gruff - not sure about that, UK Govt says "You must take the test in the 3 days before the service on which you will arrive in England departs.
For example, if you travel directly to England on Friday, you must take the test on the Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
"
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... to-england

Pamela1
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby Pamela1 » Tue May 25, 2021 10:16 am

gruff wrote: Tue May 25, 2021 9:35 am Tests at Malaga airport. Does that mean I have to go to the airport 1/2 days before my flight to get the test?
That is the view i take, unless the area where you are staying offers testing for travel. Not everywhere does offer testing and from what i have seen it can require travel into a very large town or city to be tested. The price of testing doubles compared to Malaga airport, however there are no savings to be made by traveling to be tested at Malaga airport because then the cost of staying in hotels has to be factored in.
Some resorts offer testing in clinics, my son will be travelling to Nerja hopefully later this year and people can be tested for travel in Nerja at a clinic.
Granada city has various locations which i could use but for me it would mean a trip into the city which is about a 40 min journey, then the hassle of parking, i would rather just cut my trip short and go to the airport and get tested and then enjoy a last few days away in Malaga area. Oh for the day when we no longer have to jump through hoops, the sooner things change for the better then the better it will be for everyone.

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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby zanuck » Tue May 25, 2021 10:26 am

Pamela1 Nerja isn't very far for me to drive to, and is preferable to Malaga city or the airport, do you have the name/details of the Nerja clinic please?
Thanks.

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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby Pamela1 » Tue May 25, 2021 10:59 am

Clinica Santa Cecilia...Calle Huertos 46. tel + 35 95 252 1024 Zanuck, you can google the clinic and read all the info. They offer appointments and also walk in's are accepted. They have a car park behind the clinic.

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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby zanuck » Tue May 25, 2021 11:02 am

Thanks very much Pamela1, I'll take a look.

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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby zanuck » Tue May 25, 2021 2:11 pm

I've contacted the clinic that Pamela1 suggested, and they told me that I shouldn't book any test with them now, in case the situation changes in July, they also told me "Currently, the UK allows Rapid Covid Antigen tests to satisfy their requirements for Covid testing for entry.
With Rapid Covid Antigen tests you have your results and a certificate in English within approximately 20/25 minutes.
" .

I was very sceptical about that, because all we ever hear about on TV and Radio is PCR Tests; so I re-checked the gov.uk website and it seems they are correct.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... pe-of-test

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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby biribiri » Tue May 25, 2021 5:40 pm

We are in a similar situation to zanuck. We are travelling by ferry from Santander next month and looking around places to get tests done.
I found this https://travelcovidtestcenter.com/
You can book a test online at Seville or Malaga airports.
The trouble is that they require a flight number when filling in the booking form.
I have contacted them and asked whether it's possible to have the test without flying and will post an update if I receive a reply.

anyroads
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby anyroads » Wed May 26, 2021 11:07 am

30 / 31 year olds being called up this week in the UK for their first vaccination.

I wonder what the position is in Spain ?

anyroads

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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby Wicksey » Wed May 26, 2021 11:20 am

We've been talking about it here viewtopic.php?f=25&t=40424&start=380

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firsttango
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby firsttango » Wed May 26, 2021 7:58 pm

IMG_7128.jpeg

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Wicksey
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby Wicksey » Thu May 27, 2021 10:06 am

:clap:

I can imagine it's going to be chaos at the airports when people do start to travel in any numbers again.

Edit: In fact just read this in the DT
Airport 'chaos' without intl standards for vaccine certification
"Airports won't function" if governments don't agree on international standards for digital Covid-19 vaccination and test certification, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

olive
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby olive » Thu May 27, 2021 11:02 am

That meme is very funny!

I suspect the airports will want the minimum of hassle and will just wave folk through with a cursory inspection. Why should airports be the “ health police”?

The EU digital certificate aka covid passport will be available by 1 st July.

More immediate concern is the news that France is expecting visitors from UK ( with its Indian variant KX 293/1A ) to isolate. That might be a bit awkward for road travellers to Spain……..

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gruff
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby gruff » Thu May 27, 2021 11:44 am

Just done my check in with Ryanair for Friday. I now have a headache! More info. than last time and before we get the boarding passes had to upload "Covid documentation", in this case the Spanish locator forms. Have to do it coming back , heaven know what that info. will cover.

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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby zanuck » Thu May 27, 2021 12:06 pm

Brittany Ferries just cancelled our Portsmouth-Bilbao sailing on 7 June citing uncertainty over international travel, this is somewhat at odds with the last positive update on 24 May from their CEO.

To say we are a bit peeved is an understatement.

Rebooked for late June at once again, an increase in the cost of the trip.

From the BF email cancelling the crossing:
"I am writing today with the news that your upcoming sailing has unfortunately been cancelled. Ongoing uncertainty over international travel has forced us to further consolidate our sailing timetables and I am sorry to confirm that you are among our customers who will be impacted.

The Armorique and Normandie will not be carrying passengers until 20th June 2021, and sailings on the Barfleur, Bretagne, and Cap Finistère have been cancelled until 27th June 2021. Whilst I appreciate that any cancellation will cause inconvenience and disappointment, I hope this message brings some clarity to your travel plans. For those still wishing to travel on a Spanish service, in addition to the Portsmouth to Santander sailings on board Galicia, the Pont-Aven will be sailing to and from Plymouth and Santander from 6th June 2021
"

Paddy Pumpkin
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby Paddy Pumpkin » Thu May 27, 2021 12:15 pm

To me that sounds more like a lack of demand and they are just consolidating the sailings so to have less empty boats.

Did they offer you a spot on the Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander route?

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Wicksey
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby Wicksey » Thu May 27, 2021 12:24 pm

olive wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 11:02 am That meme is very funny!

I suspect the airports will want the minimum of hassle and will just wave folk through with a cursory inspection. Why should airports be the “ health police”?

The EU digital certificate aka covid passport will be available by 1 st July.

More immediate concern is the news that France is expecting visitors from UK ( with its Indian variant KX 293/1A ) to isolate. That might be a bit awkward for road travellers to Spain……..
They have been checking the paperwork at departures from what I have read and our neighbour's experience at Heathrow, so have been weeding out anyone who doesn't have the correct forms. Still lots of warnings about the passport control not being able to cope as they are also checking inbound passengers' health forms as they have not been digitilised for use in the automated passport readers.

Does sound like it may not be possible to transit France to get to Spain :think: Reduced ferry crossings direct to Spain as well from Zanuck's posting. I couldn't be bothered to travel at the moment, although I appreciate people are desperate to get here to sort out their holiday homes which I can understand. Thankfully our tenants in the UK are brilliant so we don't need to go, but perhaps can do a virtual visit if I cannot get there this year again.

anyroads
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby anyroads » Thu May 27, 2021 12:41 pm

anyroads wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 11:07 am 30 / 31 year olds being called up this week in the UK for their first vaccination.

I wonder what the position is in Spain ?

anyroads
Thanks for the update Wicksey. It does seem as if they are getting there, but different situations in different regions.

Until most of the population are vaccinated, things are not going to open up fully, and of course Spain will still be on the "amber list" as far as the UK is concerned. Let's hope, people go when called to get vaccinated. It is telling that some of the people taking up hospital beds with covid in Bolton, have not been vaccinated, but of an age to be vaccinated. They still expect the NHS to look after them though !

anyroads

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firsttango
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby firsttango » Thu May 27, 2021 1:20 pm

The British Medical Journal seems to suggest this is Matt Hancocks "spin" on the situation......he does tend to bend the facts to suit

https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1345

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... cil-leader

zanuck
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Re: No tourists until after summer

Postby zanuck » Thu May 27, 2021 3:04 pm

Paddy Pumpkin wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 12:15 pm To me that sounds more like a lack of demand and they are just consolidating the sailings so to have less empty boats.

Did they offer you a spot on the Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander route?
That was my thought too, although I spoke with BF late yesterday afternoon to get reassurance that the sailing would go ahead as other sailings from Bilbao last October/November were redirected to Santander because of industrial action at Bilbao. I was assured that sailings had been running and were expected to be running on 7 June.

"Did they offer an alternative spot?" No, there were three options from BF, - amend your booking to another date, postpone your booking to another date and ask for a credit voucher and, cancel your booking and get a refund.

We took the first one, our preference is Portsmouth - Santander, but prices for sailings a few days later were £250-£350 higher than we had already paid (and that was an increase of around £170 from a previous cancelled trip), Plymouth - Santander was a little higher than the Portsmouth crossing, and also a 290 mile drive versus a 140 mile drive to Portsmouth, so we opted for the first planned sailing to Bilbao at an additional £48.

Fingers crossed....


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