European Union

The European Union has been working towards reopening its border to countries outside of the European Union and the Schengen Area. This week the European Union confirmed its decision to ban countries from crossing its borders if that country did not meet their set criteria – the number of new Covid-19 cases per 100,ooo persons must be close to or below that of the EU, within the last 14 days.

The United States, Brasil and Russia do not meet this requirement. Thus, those 3 countries are banned from entering the European Union.

Those countries allowed in from today are: Àlgeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.  The European Union confirmed China would be allowed entry if the agreement was reciprocated.

This agreement will be reviewed every 2 weeks for potential modifications.

Spain

However, it does get slightly complicated. This agreement between the European Union also stated that each EU member state can reopen their borders to those countries they prefer.  However, there must be a joint agreement on the external borders to have consistency with reopening and to avoid potential confusion. It remains unclear what this agreement will be.

It is not clear as of yet, if Spain will decide to allow entry for Americans despite the Union’s decision. The US Consulate in Madrid has yet to update its policy in regards to entry for Americans.

However, Spain has consistently erred on the side of caution. It remains obligatory to wear face masks for everyone age six or older in enclosed spaces and public areas where it is impossible to maintain six feet of social distance. The order recommends but does not require mask use by children between the ages of three and five.

We will update this article as soon as we have more concrete information regarding international entry.