Connecting Flights From India Still Arriving In Spain

WHILST Europe is shielding itself from the new India Covid-19 strain, 16 India-Madrid air connections arrive in Spain every day.

As reported in Ok Diario, whilst Europe is shielding itself from the new Indian Covid-19 strain, 16 India-Madrid air connections arrive in Spain every day. Experts have said that even though the new strain has not yet been detected in Spain, it is very likely that it will arrive in the country soon.

The India strain is already present in eight European countries. However, The Government of Pedro Sánchez has left a wait of four days from the announcement of the mandatory quarantine and putting it into force, which is scheduled for this Saturday. During those four days, Madrid will have received dozens of flights connecting to India, with 16 arrivals this Thursday.

Currently, Europe is shielding its airport borders against possible entry of the Indian strain, which is suspected to have the ability to evade vaccine antibodies. However, Spain’s controls will not come into force until Saturday, after that, all travellers from India must quarantine for 10 days and present a negative PCR test.

Although Spain is not running any direct flights from India, if a traveller wants to travel from New Delhi they can do it through a series of connecting flights – there are multiple options for this.

Among epidemiologists, the Government of Pedro Sánchez’s delay in putting the controls into force is considered inexplicable.

With so many people trying to leave India, other neighbouring countries have applied very strict rules in an attempt to cut off the possibility of the Indian strain entering the country.

For example, Italy has banned all flights from India except for in the case of people returning. Germany has banned international transits at Frankfurt airport, which is the main connection with India, and Portugal has done the same. France has also strengthened its controls with antigen tests at airports.

However, in Spain, the requirements are a negative PCR test that is only requested in random controls, and a 10-day quarantine that can not be guaranteed it is being adhered to.