The constraints increase for unvaccinated people arriving from Portugal and Spain. Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune announced on Thursday
Franceinfo that travelers arriving from its two countries and not having a complete vaccination schedule will have to present “a test [PCR ou antigénique] less than 24 hours ”.
A shorter timeframe, since until now, a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours or an antigenic test of 48 hours was sufficient to return from the two countries of the Iberian Peninsula. The measure will come into effect “this weekend”. On the other hand, the Secretary of State clarified that there would be no compulsory isolation for these people. On July 8, Clément Beaune advised the French to “avoid Spain and Portugal” because of the very sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in these two countries.
Explosion of cases in the two European countries
These two major summer tourist destinations have been facing an upsurge in the coronavirus epidemic for the past few weeks due to the Delta variant. Portugal thus recorded 4,153 new contaminations. Almost half were counted in Lisbon and its surroundings (1,928). According to the latest report from the National Institute of Public Health (Insa) published on Tuesday, 100% of new cases in the Lisbon region as well as in the very touristy Algarve region (south) are due to the Delta variant.
For its part, Spain, which thought it was on the way out of the crisis, is facing a real explosion of cases, mainly among those under 29. The different regions of Spain have taken a step back by closing nightclubs in closed spaces, imposing restrictions on opening hours or the number of customers in restaurants and reinstating a curfew.