To go to Spain?

[tospainornottospain]

Even though FCO advice is not to? DH is Spanish and really wants to go. We'd be going to an area which has very few cases anyway. 2 week quarantine would be no problem as we both wfh. We're both 30s and v healthy but I'll be 14 weeks pregnant. Not worried about catching the corona - we are careful but also the stats for young healthy people speak for themselves. Re health insurance I think (but I'm checking) that we're covered anyway because our existing health insurance is international anyway.

Obviously I would ordinarily abide by FCO advice but usually it would be for a reason like terrorism, political instability etc. And as I mentioned, the region I'm going to has hardly any corona anyway.

So! I'd like a sense check from you lovely people if I may - AIBU to consider going?

Have you thought about what will happen if you aren't allowed back. This is what happened to thousands of people in the last lockdown and it could happen again. Being pregnant i would send your partner alone

I'm off to Spain next week, hopefully until November.
Have delayed the trip since May, but now feeling OK about going.
I will be glad to be out of the UK for a couple of months.

@Friendsoftheearth I'm not entirely sure you know what you're on about, I live in Spain and have done my whole life, Spain is NOT going into lockdown, the cases are going up yes, because we are testing more, and actually hospitalised cases are down and so are deaths, the people being tested now are asymptomatic and just riding it out at home.
As for public hospitals being awful here, that's just a complete untruth, Spain has amazing hospitals and with an ehic card you would be covered for everything.
Be careful what you read about other countries in the media, Spanish media has a lot to say about the UK, pretty sure every country is trying to make out they have the situation under control better than anyone else. But in this case Spain certainly does have better control than the UK.
Op have a great time !! Wear your mask at all times or the Guardia will fine you on the spot.

I would go OP, but found it a bit perplexing that you said you adhere to FCO re terrorism but are completing minimising the global pandemic advice. The chances of you being caught up in a terrorist attack (even in a high risk area) are very small in comparison!

and with an ehic card you would be covered for everything
No you wouldn't. Firstly you can only treated in state hospitals. There have been many cases of Brits being taken to hospitals whilst not in a state to discuss which hospital the emergency services should be taking them to found out that the place they were treated at didn't cover them with the ehic.

And of course, ehic wouldn't cover repatriation, alive or dead, or things like rehabilitation etc...

I'm amazed that there are insurance covering Covid without small print stating that this doesn't apply to places that have been recommend not to travel to.

I’ve had a lot of experience of public healthcare in both the UK and Spain and have invariably found Spain to be superior.

Provided I had valid health insurance covering Covid, which does exist (EHIC is ok, but not enough in my opinion because of it not covering repatriation on medical grounds, in case of death etc) my concern would purely be the flights and airports. Not the situation in Spain itself.

As for public hospitals being awful here, that's just a complete untruth, Spain has amazing hospitals and with an ehic card you would be covered for everything

You may get away with comments like that to people that have never lived in Spain, but I have, and the public state hospitals are dreadful, so dreadful that even most local people do not use them!

The private hospitals on the other hand are fantastic, but an EHIC card won't buy you treatment in one of those clean and shiny hospitals. You are being extremely disingenuous to say that tourists will be entitled to the private hospital experience when you know they won't! The EHIC does NOT cover you for everything, and what it doesn't cover will be extremely expensive.

And whilst you say most people are asymptomatic and are riding it out at home, surely this is a cause for alarm not reassurance, Spain's testing capabilities are nowhere near where they should be compared to the UK, France and Germany which basically means that many people will be infecting others unwittingly - which will reflect the huge surge we are now seeing.

Telling pregnant women to travel to Spain now is wholly irresponsible.

It's difficult to reason with people who are just posting articles and information they have read on line

Yes naughty me for shattering your carefully crafted illusion of safety with the new infection rates from the Spanish government and the New Scientist keep

I went. Stayed at a friends apartment in an area with very few cases, leaving just after quarantine was announced. Half empty plane out there. Mandatory masks when out walking, hand sanitiser everywhere, social distancing firmly in place. Back here it's people everywhere many without masks.

If you go just under 2 weeks before schools go back there will be no one travelling (planes will be empty going out anyway) and the children/families will all come back in about 6 days from now.

So it's not as bad as you think. Though of course northern Spain/the big cities are different.

Travel insurance is not just not being able to go, its for medical costs, its for repatriation if you have to come back via Air ambulance as well

I got back from Spain on Sunday, my sister flew there today. It is true that your travel insurance is invalidated due to FO advice. You need to ensure you have your E111 cards which covers you for healthcare. It depends where you are going really in my opinion - Spain is a huge country and parts of it are having second waves - mainly around Catalunya area and in non-touristy Aragon. We travelled from Santander, via Caceres to a village near Malaga. There had never been a case in the village we stayed in and we felt totally safe. If you can do the quarantine and have E111 cards I would go. I think the riskiest part of the journey is travelling to and from so I would wear a mask, visor and gloves on the plane and use a lot of hand gel on everything. ( I do not trust our Government one bit and part of the reason they have taken Spain off the air bridge is to do with Brexit and putting pressure on Spain re Gibraltar as well as deflecting how badly they have managed coronavirus). I hope you have a lovely holiday!

I flew BA and on the plane back saw them pump some kind of gas into the cabin as we boarded. Still alive so obviously it was some kind of air purifier.

I would also get a good mask and ensure it fits snugly. Breathing air from around it through gaps kind of defeats the purpose. Other people wear cheap ones and that's not providing much protection to you.

Battleface doesn’t cover anything to do with Corona-related travel disruption or lockdowns

If you are quarantined, will you miss midwife appointments or any scans?

Thanks everyone who posted. Some really useful points. We've decided not to go to Spain. Will go somewhere on the approved list.

If the Covid does not get you the mosquitoes carrying meningitis might. Seriously though why would you go right now and not wait until safer? If my dh wanted to go I would say bye bye see you after you have quarenteened.

YABU. But if you do go, I hope you won’t be expecting any help if you get stranded there or have any other problems.

You were advised not to go, so if you do go, face your own consequences and fix your own problems.

Re medical insurance/ care aren't we still covered under EU reciprocal arrangements during the pro-Brexit transition period? I didn't get travel insurance for France recently because I knew I wouldn't be covered for Covid related cancellations and my only other concern (except breakdown cover which I got) was health, which we currently still have access to abroad.

pre-Brexit, not pro

@whatafuckstercluck when I was ill in France I had to pay to see doctor, pay to go to hospital and pay for drugs given. Could have claimed money back once in UK but could not be bothering.

another point with ehic - it's for primary care. what if you have an accident that means you are able to be discharged from hospital after initial treatment but that would make if difficult to travel home. a broken leg in a hip-to-ankle cast for example.

Op I mean this kindly, but the 'current' list of approved countries is going to change tomorrow. An announcement is coming. Up to 14 countries will be struck off. Next week it could all change again. It is a fluid and moving picture which basically means NO country is safe or reliable. All countries are experiencing surges and reinfection clusters.

You are only pregnant for nine months, and in that time you are responsible for a new life that depends entirely on you making good decisions for him/her. The idea that a holiday anywhere comes before the wellbeing of you AND your tiny baby is pretty astonishing.

You have your whole life to plan holiday to exotic destinations, when you won't be at risk from a pandemic or won't be carrying a baby. I would consider a UK based holiday within driving distance of your midwife, and even then choose somewhere very very low risk, that is quiet etc.

@caringcarer it sounds like the medical care you received may have been private rather than state-provided. In France state provided medical institutions don't ask for payment up front.

Go.

@HowFastIsTooFast

So the thing most likely to happen isn't covered????

With respect @Hearhoovesthinkzebras that comes off as a little melodramatic and paranoid!

Travelling to somewhere with a low covid rate means the chances of the OP or anyone else contracting it are tiny. Less likely than having a bump in the hire car on the way, or stumbling and spraining and ankle, or loosing a bag in the airport. Less likely than catching it at home where nobody seems to give a shit about masks or hand-washing anymore and everyone is going about groping every item in the supermarket and putting it back, or crowding into seaside resorts and country parks with barely space to slide a piece of paper between them.

I was in Spain a couple of weeks ago and felt much safer than I do here at home because everyone there is taking it seriously. Of course the OP would be crazy to travel with no insurance, but now it seems she's secured some that covers COVID anyway then any additional risk or lockdown or repatriation is one for her to take.

But it's not just catching it, it's the risk of the country going into lockdown, individual areas going into quarantine, flights being cancelled, UK banning flights from Spain.