UK citizen flying from Philippines to Spain

[marksmc]

Hi before I book my flight in the next week or two is there any restrictions for UK citizens departing from Manila and arriving at Madrid?

Quick glance on google advises Spain require a e-form with flight and personal details etc but I didn't see any mention of taking a record or document that I should take a Covid test result.

Has anyone from UK flown recently from Manila to Madrid and knows what procedures etc required or not, thanks to all or any replies in advance

 

[Tincatinker]

Its always best to ask the horse: https://www.spain.info/en/discover-spain/practical-information-tourists-covid-19-travel-spain/ but it looks to me that that is a journey you cannot complete without quarantining for a couple of weeks even if you could get a flight which, this page: http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Portal...ngImages/2020_03/2020_03 MAPA CORONAVIRUS.png suggests you can't. The Spanish consulate in Manilla http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Embajadas/MANILA/en/Embassy/Pages/HorariosLocalizacionContacto.aspx may offer further comment.

So far as the current restrictions go it isn't your passport that matters its your point of origin.

 

[marksmc]

Tincatinker that is a comprehensive reply and appreciated, I will translate to english the map bullet point text but it probably states as per your comment ".…cannot complete without quarantining for a couple of weeks.."
as I have been in lockdown here since Mid March and my work contract terminated due to the virus situation I am prepared if allowed to quarantine for 2 weeks in a hotel in Madrid or as required and then head off on the Via de la Plata Camino..

Would there be any further issue to this does anyone see?

 

[Tincatinker]

Buena suerte

 

[Kathor1]

I will translate to english the map bullet point text but it probably states as per your comment ".…cannot complete without quarantining for a couple of weeks.."

Where do you see this?

I've come to the opposite conclusion, having looked at some official stuff: that you, as a UK citizen and coming from the Philippines and being a resident of the Philippines, will be allowed entry into Spain at a Spanish airport and all you have to do is showing the QR code that you got when you filled in the SpTh form. I am not 100% sure, maybe 98,75% and IANAL, of course.

 

[Tincatinker]

@Kathar1na, if you take a look at the 2nd link I posted the Fillipinas is listed as a Red List country. There is a prohibition of entry to Spain and flights & shipping are suspended. Or my Spanish is even worse than I thought.

 

[Kathor1]

if you take a look at the 2nd link I posted the Fillipinas is listed as a Red List country. There is a prohibition of entry to Spain and flights & shipping are suspended. Or my Spanish is even worse than I thought.

I am really confused. This map http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Portal...ngImages/2020_03/2020_03 MAPA CORONAVIRUS.png is a map for Spanish citizens who wish to travel from Spain to other countries. @marksmc wishes to fly in the opposite direction.

In addition, Qatar for example apparently sells flights from Manila to Madrid via Doha.

@marksmc is a UK citizen which means that until 31 Dec 2020 he is not considered as a citizen of what is called a "third country" from the EU's viewpoint. It is my understanding that he will be treated in the same way as EU citizens although he no longer has that quality. Which means certain exemptions from travel restrictions upon entry into the EU from anywhere.

I read the text in Source: Official State Gazette (BOE) that is indicated on https://www.spain.info/en/discover-spain/practical-information-tourists-covid-19-travel-spain/

It would be great if someone reacts to this thread who travelled from Manila to Madrid recently but I am not holding my breath. And IANAL.

 

[Kathor1]

Or is this about the problems/impossibility of returning to Manila? I didn't look into this because that question had not been asked.

A couple of friends and I talked about a similar topic today. We agreed before any travel across any border, and be it only for less than 24 h or 48 h, you always have to check four points and associated conditions in these Covid-19 times: Where do I live? What's my nationality? Where do I want to travel to? Can I return to where I live?

 

[Kathor1]

Qatar for example apparently sells flights from Manila to Madrid via Doha.

QR0929 Manila-Doha and QR0149 Doha-Madrid. PAX flights. They do leave Manila and they do arrive in Madrid. I checked.

Also on the Qatar website: Passengers must present a negative RT-PCR test result taken less than 96 hours prior to departure, unless the country of departure or arrival requires a test done within a shorter period.

 

[Kathor1]

Has anyone from UK flown recently from Manila to Madrid and knows what procedures etc required or not, thanks to all or any replies in advance

@marksmc, why didn't I think of this earlier! Instead of writing long replies ... you could contact Father Manny Domingo on Facebook. Maybe he is also a member of this forum, I'm not certain. Unless I am mistaken, he is a priest from the Philippines who lives in Santiago and is involved in Camino / pilgrims. Perhaps he knows people who travelled recently.

www.facebook.com/CaminoDeSantiagoPhilippinesConfraternityOfStJames/

 

[Tincatinker]

Yet according to Visit Spain’s own website the Phillipines is absent from the list of countries from which you can travel to Spain, limited to Schengen and a few countries with reciprocal agreements. And being able to fly to Madrid does not guarantee access to Spain.
I look forward to the world getting back to what used to pass as normal

 

[Kathor1]

Yet according to Visit Spain’s own website the Phillipines is absent from the list of countries from which you can travel to Spain, limited to Schengen and a few countries with reciprocal agreements. And being able to fly to Madrid does not guarantee access to Spain. I look forward to the world getting back to what used to pass as normal

Yes, I know. That's why I double checked the publication in Spain's BOE (Official State Gazette). The passport, still burgundy in colour, does play a role here. But I agree, it is maddeningly confusing ... and I myself am not certain whether I would risk to fly, for at least two reasons. No, make that three reasons. At least three.

 

[marksmc]

Thank you both so much @Kathar1na @Tincatinker, really appreciate your time to help answer my query..but still not 100% sure if will be allowed or not but I am leaning toward being allowed...

It is amazing that you @Kathar1na mentioned Father Manny as would you believe we (me and my wife who is Filipina) met him beside the Cathedral purely by chance and shared a blessing together when we arrived in Santiago after completing Camino Portuguese last year but we did not exchange contact addresses and I have sent him and the Philipino Camino group you shared both messages if they know of people/ Pilgrims travelling Manila to Madrid the Philipino group answer straight away that they believe Philipinos cannot travel at this time and as an aside they require Shengan visas prior to travel which after processing for my wife last year is not straightforward at all to say the least in our experience...

Also I would rather avoid connecting flight in Qatar as prefer Istanbul which is smoother in my experience if they have flights that is...

I have a photo with Father Manny but cannot upload as "Attach files" button is not responding?

 

[Kathor1]

the Philipino group answer straight away that they believe Philipinos cannot travel at this time

Correct. People are not allowed to enter Spain under current Covid-19 legislation on travel restrictions if they are Filipinos and are resident in the Philippines or residents in the USA and in hundreds of other countries. They are "third country nationals" (persona nacional de un tercer país in Spanish) but your are not in this category as a UK passport holder (BOE). Until 31 Dec 2020 - beyond that date lies unchartered territory at the time of writing and it's already October next week.

As I said, I am about 98,75% (☺) certain that there are no legal obstacles for you to enter, that there is no quarantine for you in Spain (provided you don't have a fever when they check you at Madrid airport) and that you just have to fill in the SpTH form. Which is also what Turkish Airlines told me when I looked into booking the TK85-TK1857 flight from Manila via Istanbul to Madrid: It is required by authorities of Spain that our passengers must complete the Spain Travel Health Form (FCS) before their flights. Kindly submitted for your information.

 

[Kathor1]

I am about 98,75% (☺) certain

https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php - it is odd that British nationals are not explicitly listed in the entry for Spain about Covid-19 travel restrictions while immediate family members of a British national travelling together [with the British national] are explicitly mentioned as exempt from Covid-19 travel restrictions. However, the Iata Travel Centre is not an official government website.

 

[marksmc]

@Kathar1na I am delighted and very grateful with your well researched reply, thank you for your time to help clarify my query!

 

[JabbaPapa]

In general, restrictions concern not the nationality of travelers, but their country of provenance.

Spaniards, and Spanish residents can always enter Spain -- though they may be subjected to a quarantine in some cases.

But nationals of countries that Spain is currently accepting travelers from have no similar rights to enter Spain if they are traveling from countries from which entry is not allowed apart from certain well-defined exceptions.

But nationals from any country who have been at least 14 days in a country that Spain does allow entry from may enter Spain, always assuming proper travel documentation. They may in some cases need to provide a negative Covid19 test (I think ?).

 

[Kathor1]

@Kathar1na I am delighted and very grateful with your well researched reply, thank you for your time to help clarify my query!

Thank you. As I said, I am pretty certain now that I've understood the situation accurately (ie entry conditions for you and no quarantine unless you are obviously ill at the point of entry), but there is this nagging doubt of a hypothetical 1,25%. I hope you get some useful news from Fr Manny and I'd also say contact the Spanish embassy or consulate in Manila and hopefully you get a correct reply from a competent member of staff but alas in these weird times not even that is guaranteed.

 

[Kathor1]

Visit Spain’s own website [...] the list of countries from which you can travel to Spain

I feel I ought to add something even when everyone is probably rolling their eyes or falling asleep. What is missing on the website but what you find when you click on the BOE link to the consolidated legislation Orden INT/657/2020 de 17 de Julio is this:

• in article 1: será sometida a denegación de entrada, por motivos de orden público o salud pública, toda persona nacional de un tercer país, salvo que pertenezca a una de las siguientes categorías: [and then the list]
• in the preamble: Tanto las restricciones como las categorías exentas se refieren a nacionales de terceros países, dado que, con la entrada en vigor de la Orden INT/578/2020, de 29 de junio, los ciudadanos de la Unión y sus familiares, y los demás beneficiarios del derecho a la libre circulación, ya quedaron fuera del ámbito de aplicación de las restricciones temporales en las fronteras exteriores españolas.

Citizens of the Union are EU nationals; it's obvious who the further beneficiaries are; third countries are non-EU countries on this context.

I wish I were at Madrid airport and could quiz passengers coming out of the international arrival zone.

 

[alexwalker]

@marksmc ... you could contact Father Manny Domingo on Facebook. Maybe he is also a member of this forum, I'm not certain. Unless I am mistaken, he is a priest from the Philippines who lives in Santiago and is involved in Camino / pilgrims.

www.facebook.com/CaminoDeSantiagoPhilippinesConfraternityOfStJames/

You are aboslutely correct. He gives sermons in the chapel at the Pilgrim's Office. It was fantastic listening to him. A beutiful mind that I was so lucky to get to know while I was volunteering in the Office last year.

 

[lt56ny]

Its always best to ask the horse: https://www.spain.info/en/discover-spain/practical-information-tourists-covid-19-travel-spain/ but it looks to me that that is a journey you cannot complete without quarantining for a couple of weeks even if you could get a flight which, this page: http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Portal/es/SalaDePrensa/ElMinisterioInforma/PublishingImages/2020_03/2020_03 MAPA CORONAVIRUS.png suggests you can't. The Spanish consulate in Manilla http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Embajadas/MANILA/en/Embassy/Pages/HorariosLocalizacionContacto.aspx may offer further comment.

So far as the current restrictions go it isn't your passport that matters its your point of origin.

So true wise Tinker I believe and I may be wrong it is where you reside not your passport that is the determining factor. I have an American passport but reside in Ake I o and have a permanent residency card. If Mexico and all of Latin America wasn’t such a big mess I believe I would be able to travel to Spain. Uruguay has done a great job controlling COVID and I believe you could go to the EU with a passport or residency from there. I know with my Mexican Residency I am eligyfoe all discounts that seniors can get that are extended to all people with Latin American passports. I hope this information is correct. I wouldn’t take anything I said to the bank.

 

[Tincatinker]

So true wise Tinker I believe and I may be wrong it is where you reside not your passport that is the determining factor. I have an American passport but reside in Ake I o and have a permanent residency card. If Mexico and all of Latin America wasn’t such a big mess I believe I would be able to travel to Spain. Uruguay has done a great job controlling COVID and I believe you could go to the EU with a passport or residency from there. I know with my Mexican Residency I am eligyfoe all discounts that seniors can get that are extended to all people with Latin American passports. I hope this information is correct. I wouldn’t take anything I said to the bank.

Estimado amigo, who knows? As the highly esteemed @Kathar1na has established: the rules and guidance are clear, its the sheer variety of rules and guidance that cause a little fuzziness to reality. It is perfectly possible that the OP could fly Manilla - Madrid, brandish his Burgundy passport and enter the sacred realm with freedom to roam. It is equally possible that he'll be left air-side and in Limbo while others more qualified than we mere servants ponder his fate. The guys in the pub ( a reliable, if fustian, bunch) suggested he fly to Madrid, stay air-side, fly to Luton ('cos no-one knows where Luton is), fly back to Madrid and brandish that Burgundian laissez-passer in quiet confidence that he has indeed arrived from this poor benighted isle and should need to self-incarcerate only on his putative return.

My view, a personal one, is that should I choose to travel from a place with a high, or even moderate incidence of a pan/endemic virus to a place of similar status I should declare myself to the authorities of my destination and follow their direction thereafter. Ergo, should I choose to travel from Erewhon to Llareggub the Reggub's are entitle to do their all

 

[Kathor1]

I don't give up easily. What a mess. The following text is available in Spanish on a number of websites of Spanish embassies and consulates in non-European countries, among them the one in New York. I found only one Spanish embassy/consulate who had this text dated and who provided it both in Spanish and in English, namely the one in Toronto. I quote it in full because I think it is interesting for others who hold an EU passport and live in one of the countries that are not among the 12 or so non-European countries on the 'green' list. I find the text reasonably clear.

IMPORTANT NOTICE IF YOU TRAVEL TO SPAIN​

7/7/2020 [...]​

SPANISH NATIONALS: They are entitled to enter Spain in any time, as long as they are duly documented as Spanish citizens (Passport – Expired passports during the last 5 year are admitted, DNI or letter of safe-conduct, etc.).​

EUROPEAN UNION CITIZENS: They will be able to enter Spain if they are duly documented, no matter the country they are arriving from. Any family members of European Union citizens who are third-country nationals, as well as Spanish family members, can also enter Spain, when they are beneficiary of the free movement regime. They will need to have proof of their kinship and, when applicable, dependency situation, as well as fulfill the conditions to exercise the free movement. When required, they must have a Non-EU Family Member visa. British nationals continue to be considered as EU citizens for all intents and purposes.​

THIRD-COUNTRY NATIONALS (EXCLUDING FAMILY MEMBERS OF EU CITIZENS): The Order INT/595/2020 is applicable for third-country nationals. In this Order there is a list of countries (including Canada), which will be regularly reviewed by the [Spanish] Ministry of Interior. The third-country nationals who come from the countries included in the list and are also residents in those countries (no matter their nationality) will be allowed to enter Spain without any restriction, as long as they fulfill the entry requirements established by Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code, which may require a Schengen visa. People who are not residents in the countries of the list are not eligible to travel to Spain under the revised restrictions on non-essential travel, even though they are nationals of a country included in the list. As a general rule, all the third-country nation[al]s coming from third countries which are not included in the list of 12 exempt countries will be banned from entering Spain, except those included in any of the cases exempt to the travel ban.​

​

Source: http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consul.../IMPORTANT-NOTICE-IF-YOU-TRAVEL-TO-SPAIN.aspx

 

[Kathor1]

Sorry, @marksmc, for these long excursions. I have now upped my confidence level from 98,75% to 99,00% . No probs with entering, no quarantine, no prior test (unless your airline requires it). Still, don't take my word for it - you are reading this on an Internet forum after all. Bon voyage and buen camino if you decide to go.

 

[Tincatinker]

@Kathar1na, I sincerely admire your determined research. I lapsed into rhetoric. Too many years in public service can do that to you.

 

[Kathor1]

The third-country nationals who come from the countries included in the list and are also residents in those countries (no matter their nationality)

The Spanish says: Los nacionales de terceros países que procedan de los países incluidos en la lista y que, además, sean residentes - I think this means that you have to live in one of these 12 or so countries on the "ok" list AND you have to travel straight from this country to Spain. So forget about all the idle speculation of travelling through Canada to Spain etc etc. It won't work and you will be put on the next flight back and you will have been on an expensive round trip to Europe.

 

[Kathor1]

I lapsed into rhetoric. Too many years in public service can do that to you.

I always enjoy a bit of artfully chiselled rhetoric.

 

[lt56ny]

Estimado amigo, who knows? As the highly esteemed @Kathar1na has established: the rules and guidance are clear, its the sheer variety of rules and guidance that cause a little fuzziness to reality. It is perfectly possible that the OP could fly Manilla - Madrid, brandish his Burgundy passport and enter the sacred realm with freedom to roam. It is equally possible that he'll be left air-side and in Limbo while others more qualified than we mere servants ponder his fate. The guys in the pub ( a reliable, if fustian, bunch) suggested he fly to Madrid, stay air-side, fly to Luton ('cos no-one knows where Luton is), fly back to Madrid and brandish that Burgundian laissez-passer in quiet confidence that he has indeed arrived from this poor benighted isle and should need to self-incarcerate only on his putative return.

My view, a personal one, is that should I choose to travel from a place with a high, or even moderate incidence of a pan/endemic virus to a place of similar status I should declare myself to the authorities of my destination and follow their direction thereafter. Ergo, should I choose to travel from Erewhon to Llareggub the Reggub's are entitle to do their all

Or as I have sadly resigned myself to do which is miss the hell out of my kids and wait for a vaccine and lay low.

 

[Old Bamboo]

Hello. I am in the Philippines now & what i heard 2 weeks ago was unless you reside in Manila there is no entry to the city without a confirmed ticket out. Then you must undergo a Covid test not later than 36 hours before departure which basically means 2 nights in Manila. I think the test costs somewhere in the range of $100 although i could be off on that figure. On return there is no entry for foreigners unless you hold permanent residence apparently though i would check that as there was talk of even those folks not being allowed. But like i said this info is 2 weeks old and subject to change.

 

[Kathor1]

It will not come as a surprise to anyone: The Spanish government published a law that will prolong the restrictions on travel from third countries to Spain until 31 October 2020 at 24:00 h.

Allowed into Spain to go on a camino and coming from anywhere in the world: People who have a EU passport; have a EU residence card; have a UK passport; have a UK residence card. Also allowed: People who live in one of the countries that are explicitly named on a short list including Canada, Australia and New Zealand and who are travelling from that country to Spain but excluding countries such as the USA, South Africa and the Philippines. Other people: No.

BOE-A-2020-11421 Orden INT/913/2020, de 29 de septiembre, por la que se prorroga la Orden INT/657/2020, de 17 de julio, por la que se modifican los criterios para la aplicación de una restricción temporal de viajes no imprescindibles desde terceros p

www.boe.es

There are a few additional exceptions that I did not mention and that are largely irrelevant for us here on the forum. My apologies to the nationals and residents of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Estimado amigo, who knows? As the highly esteemed @Kathar1na
......
Ergo, should I choose to travel from Erewhon to Llareggub the Reggub's are entitle to do their all

Given that Erewhon is in the South Island of NZ and has been Covid free since the beginning, I should think that if you travelled from there then the Reggub's would welcome you with open arms