Visitors to the Canary Islands will be required to provide PCR tests on arrival at accommodation, the tourist board has confirmed.
Last month, after the transport secretary granted a travel corridor to the Spanish archipelago, the Canaries passed a decree law saying both PCR tests, which require lab analysis, and quicker, cheaper antigen tests would be allowed as proof a tourist is Covid-free.
Two weeks later, the Spanish government ruled that PCR tests would be required for arrivals to the country.
The Canaries, an autonomous region of Spain, has now confirmed that the ruling from Madrid means travellers to the Canaries must provide a PCR test taken up to 72 hours prior to arrival, in line with the rest of the country.
The measures for Spain, the UK’ largest outbound travel market, came into force today (November 23). An international travel ban remains in place as part of an England-wide lockdown due to end on December 2.
The Canaries had been promoting that antigen tests cost as little as €10 on the islands, were being included in the price of stays by some hotels, and could be completed within 15 minutes. PCR tests typically cost between £120 and £150.
The Canary Islands government said it hoped to have a “single, unified” policy to “offer greater certainty” in place by December 1 following negotiations with Madrid.
The aim is to “unify the criteria for a health control at the destination and that this happens by enabling access to reliable and cheap diagnostic tests for tourists, do that this requirement is not an obstacle to travel to the Canary Islands.”
