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Latest update:20 July 2022
This page provides information about the mandatory coronavirus certificates for travellers arriving to Barcelona, Spain by air, sea or land and about the Health Control checkpoints at Spanish airports and ports.
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| Travellers walking towards the Health Control checkpoint at Barcelona Airport |
Disclaimer
Before we start, we need to make this disclaimer. We take every step to ensure our information is accurate and up to date. However, changes occur rapidly, and we may not be aware of all updates to the COVID-19 regulations. We, therefore, advise you to cross-check our information against official government health websites before you take action. If you act on any of the information that we give, you agree to do so at your own risk.- Health Control upon arrival to Spain by air
Travellers entering Spain by air from a non EU country or a non Schengen country, who do not have a EU Digital COVID Certificate equivalent, will need to go through Health Control.
At Barcelona Airport, the Health Control checkpoint consists of:- separate lines from the Customs area to the Luggage Claim area,
- a visual control by Health agents,
- a temperature control with non contact thermometers or with thermal imaging cameras
- handing over your Health Control form (also called FCS form).
If you are entering Spain from a EU country or a Schengen country, you will not go through Health Control. If you are entering Spain from a non EU country or a non Schengen country and you have a EU Digital COVID certificate equivalent you will not go through Health Control either.
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| Green Health Control lines at Barcelona airport |
- Public Health Control Form if you do not have a EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) or an equivalent from the non-EU countries that have joined the EU DCC program
As explained above on this page, if you are entering Spain by air from a non EU country or a non Schengen country and you do not have a EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) or an equivalent certificate issued by any of the non-EU countries that have joined the EU DCC program, you will need fill out and present your Public Health Control Form at the Health Control.
Filling out the Public Health Control Form form is atwo stage easy process:
Stage 1.After booking your plane tickets, you will need to register on the Spanish Travel Health website for arrivals by air.
You will need to provide your name, surname, passport or ID number, flight or cruise number, arrival date and email address.
You'll receive the registration confirmation with detailed instructions on how to fill out and when to fill out the Public Health Control Form.
We recommend you create an account or log in your account on the airline website to book your flights so that the Spanish Travel Health website and the public health passenger locator form links are available together with your booking details in your account.
Stage 2. Within 2 days before your flight arrival date to Barcelona, you will need to complete the Public Health Control form. You'll be asked a series of health questions.
Upon completion of the form, you will receive a QR code that you will need to show before boarding and also to the Spanish authorities upon arrival at Barcelona airport.
You can either print the QR code or download the QR code app or do a screenshot of the QR code and save it on your mobile phone.
The Public Health Control Form is also available from the Spain Travel Health-Spth App that you can download on Android and iOS.
If you do not fill out the public health passenger locator form in advance you will have the option to do it on the plane however you'll have to queue upon arrival at Barcelona airport to present your form to the Spanish authorities. We recommend you fill out the form online within 2 days before your flight so that you'll only have to quickly show your QR code at Barcelona airport without having to queue.
After passing the Health Control you’ll be able to collect your luggage at the Luggage Claim.
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| Informative signs about the Public Health Form in the Health Control lines at Barcelona Airport |
If you have COVID-19 symptoms at the Health Control such as an elevated temperature higher than 37.5°C you will undergo a rapid antigen test in a specially designated area at the airport even if you have a negative PCR, TMA or RT-LAMP test travel certificate.
You will have to wait for the results in one of the waiting rooms. Results will be available typically within 1 hour under normal circumstances.
The price of the antigen test is covered by the Spanish Government.
If you test positive, health protocols will be activated and you will be taken to a medical centre.
If you test negative, you can carry on normally with your plans.
Learn more about how to visit Barcelona during COVID-19.
If you need an antigen or PCR test travel certificate to travel back to your country you can easily get tested in a private laboratory in Barcelona.
To know where you can get an EU Digital COVID Certificate for an antigen test or a PCR test taken in Barcelona, we recommend you visit the following pages:
EU Digital COVID Certificate
COVID certificates required to travel to Spain by land from France
As the situation changes rapidly, we strongly advise you to visit the official website of the French Embassy in Spain to check the COVID requirements in place at the time of your road trip from France to Barcelona.
The page of the official website of the French embassy in Spain about travel requirements between France and Spain is only available in French. However, once you're on the page, you can right-click and select 'Translate to English' or to the language of your choice to get an automated translation of the page's content.
The COVID certificate requirements to enter Spain from France by land are the same as the requirements explained above.
The only difference is that you will not need to complete and present a Health Control Form when crossing the Spanish border by land.
COVID requirements for travel to Spain by land from Italy
As the COVID situation is rapidly changing, we recommend you to check the official website Reopen Europe to see if COVID certificates are needed when travelling from Italy to Spain by land, i.e., by train, bus, car. We also recommend that you check the list of risk countries and areas on the Spain Travel Heath website for which COVID certificates are mandatory to see if Italy or the Italian region you're coming from are considered to be at risk by Spain. You'll find the list of risk countries and areas under the blue heading ‘RISK COUNTRIES / AREAS, in pdf format on the Spain Travel Heath website.
If you need an antigen or PCR test travel certificate to travel back to your country you can easily get tested in a private lab in Barcelona.
You can check the COVID travel requirements of your country of destination on our page: COVID-19 travel and test requirements to fly from Barcelona to destinations outside of Barcelona