The tourism minister, Reyes Maroto, is committed to the idea of a vaccination passport and to looking to convince the European Commission. In interviews with Spanish media in recent days, the secretary of state for tourism, Fernando Valdés, has highlighted the importance of vaccination as one aspect of facilitating safe travel.
He also points to the need for tests, safe corridors and health protocols that his department has helped to prepare. Of quarantine as a measure for travellers, he says that this is a decision for other countries. "We have never supported it." "By summer," he adds, "we would like to have a gradual recovery in international tourism", which would begin with "our European neighbours".
The secretary of state says that Spain's health ministry is "certain" that by the summer 70% of the Spanish population will have been vaccinated. "We are among the eight EU countries with the highest vaccination rate, ahead of France and Germany." He is cautious in noting that it cannot be known with certainty when foreign travellers will arrive, "but we already know that it is a matter of time".
Valdés refers to the anticipation of "a global immunisation scenario", one by which there will be reactivation this year, consolidation in 2022 and complete recovery in 2023, when Spain can again expect to receive the same number of foreign tourists as in 2019 - 83 million.
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I would like to point out that the vaccinations doesn't stop 100% of the people from getting the virus. You can be vaccinated and sick/contaigess but the vaccin will lower your symptoms and will save you from dying . Therefore a sick vaccinated person can creat havoc in an unvaccinated populations and they may not know they are sick!!! I fully believe that we should keep the covid test result and boarder check as the entry level to the Balearic Islands and not a green passport.
It’s nothing short of irony that the minister continues to press for vaccination passports, while the vaccine rollout in the Balearics remains woeful. Yes, the passports could well help reactive tourism. But, it’s a two way street. Local populations need to be vaccinated so that tourists feel safe and the resident population is protected. A repeat of last year - when Covid was brought to the island and led to a subsequent expansion of figures - needs to be avoided at all costs. It would mean certain death for the islands economies. So, please stop speculating and issue some real news on the vaccine rollout. It’s the only story that means anything at the moment and one that is suspiciously absent from the front pages.
Here we go again! So what about the 35% of the people who democratically choose against the vaccine and the younger generations. Stop the ride I want to get off. Politicians need to stop putting us all in the same category. We should have a choice and not be coerced.