The Canary Islands State Gazette, the BOC, this Friday included an order by which, as of Monday, British people between 12 and 18 years of age will be allowed to travel to Spain, and specifically to the Canary Islands, with a vaccination certificate or PCR carried out within 72 hours prior to arrival.

The restriction had caused a huge drop in bookings and in the arrival of tourists, according to the hotel sector, during the high winter season.

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The tourism sector, given the decline in reservations in family tourism, blamed this restriction in particular because many British minors do not have a complete vaccination schedule.

The ministerial order, which is being finalised between the Spanish Ministries of Health, Interior, Foreign Affairs and Industry, Commerce and Tourism, has also been published this Friday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and will come into force on Saturday, official governmental sources confirmed to El Confidencial.

Until now, the Health order prohibiting young Brits of this particular age group from traveling to Spain without full vaccination had had to be accepted without argument. Children under 12 years of age residing in non-EU countries were exempt from presenting any health certificate if they traveled to Spain accompanied by a suitably vaccinated adult.

In a publication on his social networks, President Ángel Víctor Torres congratulated the regional government on the elimination of a measure that discouraged bookings, from tourists with children, to the islands. “From the Canary Islands we have been working on this issue for months, which has been slowed down by the high [number of] infections that the sixth wave of coronavirus has produced,” said the president.

Likewise, he highlighted the administrative complexity that the change entails, since it involves three ministries: the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Numerous meetings have been held between the Government of the Canary Islands and Spain’s Ministry of Health, and with its head, Carolina Darias, Torres confirmed, which have now borne fruit

“Excellent news for the tourist recovery and the high season in #Canarias. Today the BOE publishes the order that, as of Monday, British people between 12 and 18 years of age will be allowed to visit us with a vaccination certificate or PCR carried out in the previous 72 hours.”