The Spanish government has said it will allow tourists to visit Spain as soon as 30 to 40% of its population has been vaccinated, backtracking on its previous plan to open up when the vaccine rollout was 70% complete.
Up until now Spanish authorities have said that the target of 70%, largely referred to as the benchmark to achieve herd immunity, would be when Spain’s tourism machine would kickstart again, which according to their initial estimates would coincide with the summer season. However, Spain’s Tourism Ministry has now halved its target figure.
Spanish Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Reyes Maroto said in an interview on Canal Sur Radio. “The government’s vaccination campaign is going as planned, so that in Spring around 30-40% of the population will be fully vaccinated and by the end of Summer 70%, so when we have that vaccination percentage in Spring, we will be able to begin reopening our tourism destinations in line with what we are working on with the European Union (EU).”
In total, Spain has already injected 5.3 million doses of the vaccine, giving more people second doses than the UK and Spain’s Tourism Minister remains optimistic “In April, we’ll receive 5 million doses from Pfizer alone. Add those to the doses of Moderna, AstraZeneca and Jansen, which is just one dose, it’s going to give the vaccination campaign a big push” she said. Although an exact date wasn’t mentioned for the reopening of tourism in Spain, if current vaccine deliveries and targets are met, this could happen by late April or May.
We hope you enjoyed the article! Remember you can search for your perfect property in Alicante by using our alicante villa search on our home page. Please don't hesitate to contact us directly for help and advice.