Going to spain

[Zem74]

Due to go to Spain next week (area has no cases) to visit/stay with family.

Am I mad to go? Very undecided

Will your plane have passengers from other effected areas on the way back? Are you able to isolate for 14 days when you get home and will you be insured? These would be key considerations for me though we are staying in the UK this year.

Not if you take all necessary precautions

We went to Portugal against advice and had a wonderful time. Take all the correct precautions, follow local guidelines and ensure you quarantine on your return.

We’re there now. If you can fi the quarantine, then go ahead. There’s social distancing, compulsory mask wearing and hand sanitiser everywhere.It feels safer than the U.K. to be honest.

Please ignore people who will undoubtably be along soon to start banging on about recycled air in the plane, this is not true. The air in planes is replaced every 2 minutes.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/should-i-cancel-my-flight-will-recirculated-air-on-a-plane-spread-coronavirus-heres-what-you-need-to-know-before-traveling-2020-03-06

The plane from Spain this morning was less than a third full. Spanish airport spotless. Everyone in masks etc, it felt very safe.

Personally I think a blanket no-Spain travel policy is ridiculous. The Netherlands have imposed a quarantine on people who live in Leicester. It's much more sensible to quarantine affected areas, of course harder to police but as the uk only ever issued one fine over the whole of the initial quarantining period, it isn't policed anyway. The canaries are practically covid free.

Ive just got back from Ibiza. just go op. it was fine out there.

Isn't the foreign office advice to avoid all but essential travel to Spain? Or has that changed since Monday?

Foreign travel advice
Spain
!
Important
COVID-19 travel guidance
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office currently advises British nationals against all but essential international travel. Travel to some countries and territories is currently exemptedd_.
This advice is being kept under constant review. Travel disruption is still possible and national control measures may be brought in with little notice, so check our travel guidancee_.

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain

Advice was ignored in February/March too with lots of people coming and going from Italy skiing and we all know what happened then.

Common sense aside-would your insurance cover you?

FCO advise is for no non essential travel to Spain currently and there is the 14 day quarantine on return to UK.

If your travel insurance will still cover you (a lot won’t with FCO advice), and you can do the 14 day quarantine then I would go, if not then no.

I'd check to see if your insurance will cover you if you go out there now, apparently lots aren't.

Personally I would just forgo the holiday, it's not essential travel.

I'm really interested in how people are getting insurance to cover them.

The only policy I could find was for high risk areas and was £160 for the 4 of us, which is high but we wouldve paid it had we not heard rumblings about easyjet axing lots of return flights.

Op do your own research and risk assessment wet airports and flying. @Aposterhasnoname post is way too simplistic IMO, the article does talk about air filtering but clearly places plane travel only as being a safe as any other mass gathering or form of public transport “This is no different from any other situation in which people are close to each other, such as on a train or bus or in a theatre.”

Air is not filtered what's passengers load, or disembark, and several more recent studies have linked major infected gong incidents to plane travel.

On tenerife forum a company called battleface appear to be covering travel against government advice.
Maybe worth checking out

@Chaotic45

Op do your own research and risk assessment wet airports and flying. *@Aposterhasnoname* post is way too simplistic IMO, the article does talk about air filtering but clearly places plane travel only as being a safe as any other mass gathering or form of public transport “This is no different from any other situation in which people are close to each other, such as on a train or bus or in a theatre.”

Air is not filtered what's passengers load, or disembark, and several more recent studies have linked major infected gong incidents to plane travel.

Got a link to these recent studies?

I'm in the same position as you but my gut is telling me to just not go. Mine is more based on not being able quarantine when we get back though

Travel against FCO advice is likely to invalidate your travel insurance. Be mindful that things could change at short notice such as a lockdown in Spain. Also check with your airline as some are now rescheduling or cancelling flights due to having so many near empty aircraft.

I can't seem to post links, off hen top of my head check out the UK to Hanoi flight where several passengers were infected. There are plenty of cases reported online, and ImO the best thing is for an individual to do their own research.

We can all quarantine on return and would do so.

Will look into insurance but will which suffice medical wise?

Speaking to family over there life is ticking over as usual but with spikes in certain regions, so the same as over here.

My only concern is going against govt advice. And return flights being cancelled.

OP we were staying near Barcelona the week before cases went up. If you can do the quarantine on return I'd go. DH and I discussed it before we went and we felt Spain was a good option as if push came to shove we'd hire a car, drive up to Paris and get on the euro star home. We didn't get sick, although we only did one trip into Barcelona and spent most of the week chilling by the pool then walking into town and sitting outside by the sea having lovely dinners. The hotel we were in was absolutely spotless and as pp have said air on the planes is properly filtered. If you decide to go be invested, take all precautions and have a great trip!

Also on the point of loading and disembarking a plane it's now strictly boarding from the back and disembarking from the front, about 4 rows at a time.

I would go, I'd just be hesitant because on cancelled return flights. I saw on the news jet 2 have recalled customers and told them to come home early on their flights or if they decline they need to find their own way back

I'd go if you understand the risks and can quarantine when you get back.

Not all regions of Spain have high Covid rates.

We're going to Iceland at the weekend. Insurance with All Clear which covers Covid 19.

All WFH at the moment so really quarantine won't make much difference!

I would read any insurance very carefully l. If travel is completely stopped while you are out there, can you afford to stay?

My friend, who isn't from the UK has been stuck in Mexico since the pandemic began. She is extremely lucky that her insurance paid out and she is using it for rent. I doubt new insurance policies would cover accommodation if travelling against advice.

I would be more worried about going on a plane than going to Spain although would not go to a badly affected area. Going to parts of Spain that aren’t badly affected is not comparable to going to Italy in March. Social distancing, mask wearing etc is now in place and the dangers are now known.... ie if I were you I would go but only have meals outside and not go to busy bars or indoor venues. I suspect that British travellers who caught covid in Italy caught it in gondola type lifts, airports or busy indoor bars not skiing itself.

OP, I'm in the same situation but hoping to fly this weekend (still need to book flights).

For me, this is not a holiday. I'm travelling to see my family, who I haven't seen since Christmas. Is it 'essential'? It depends how you look at it. I can't imagine foreign travel being advisable any time soon. When will I see them next? Some of them are elderly .

My worry remains the same as it was a month ago: the plane trip there, catching the virus en route and passing it on to my elderly relatives who DC and I are desperate to see. As are they to see us.

I'm going insane trying to decide!