Should You Be Worried? What It's Really Like to Travel to Europe Now

In September and early October of 2021, our groups completed the Camino de Santiago in Northwestern Spain. We began in Lugo and Vigo and ended nine days later in Santiago de Compostela.

I’m receiving emails these days from travelers who are worried about going anywhere, especially internationally, because of obvious reasons (um, pandemic). I understand these concerns. I was anxious about these upcoming Spain tours all summer.

This is why I want to take a moment here and tell you what I have found. I was in Spain for over a month this fall. These are my boots-on-the-ground observations.

Servers and chefs wear masks in Spain in restaurants, bars, and cafes. Here our cook shows us a fabulous paella before serving it up! Yum.

Getting In: To enter Spain from the United States, you need to show proof of full vaccination. Also, I now require Bold Spirit Travel participants to be vaxxed to come on tours. This means the guides are vaxxed, the other tour guests are vaxxed, you are vaxxed, and the people on the airplane should be vaxxed.

To enter Spain, we all had to fill out the SpTH (Spain Travel Health pass, in QR code format) app form on our phones. You can show the QR code on your phone or print it out (recommended in case your phone doesn’t work). Apart from the QR code and the proof of vaccination, entrance into Spain and travel were pretty straightforward.

I did take a COVID test before I came to Spain, worried that someone would want that too, but no one asked me for it; my vaccination card was enough. (However, one tour guest was asked for a negative test AND her vaccination card. She had to show them the Spanish entry requirements and then they let her in. This was in the U.S.A.)

Up in the air: I wore an N95 mask on the airplane and everyone kept their masks on during the Delta flight except to eat and drink. There were no issues, and overall, I did not feel unsafe. The same was true for the in-country flights on Vueling and Iberia. Delta reminds travelers many times to keep their masks on, even when sleeping. I felt Delta was doing a great job keeping people safe.

Take a look at this parade in Barcelona’s Poblenou area. Note how everyone is wearing a mask. This made me feel much safer while visiting Spain. People wear masks even when outside.

On the ground: A pleasant surprise upon arrival was that the Spanish are taking COVID safety very seriously, at least in the regions I have visited (Catalonia, Galicia). I live in Seattle where mask-wearing is mostly embraced, but the Spaniards go above and beyond what I am used to seeing in Washington.

Not only are masks required indoors (except when eating), but the majority of Spaniards also wear masks outside! I saw less mask usage among young adults in Barcelona, but overall, the attitude is respectful and matter-of-fact. People are not fighting about masks or harassing servers, they have them on, and there is abundant hand sanitizer available in shops and eateries.

I’ll say it again: it feels safe.

Out to eat: When you enter a restaurant in Spain, you wait at the door and the server comes over to seat you. Capacity is limited indoors, and standing at bars to eat tapas is not happening, nor are you picking up your own pintxos. You keep your mask on until you are seated.

I’ve seen servers remind guests about wearing their masks properly and even shoo them out if they were lingering too close to the tapas case for too long. No fistfights ensued. People just put on their masks and went and stood by the door to wait their turn—what a concept!

Wear your mask until you are seated in the restaurant. Then your mask can come off and you can enjoy your meal. If you need to get up to go to the WC or wherever, you put your mask on. These policies make Spain a safer country to visit during the pandemic. We did not have any issues while traveling. This is a photo of our group enjoying dinner along the Camino de Santiago. I miss these women! They were wonderful!

City Life: Here’s the thing about most Spanish cities—they are crowded and compact. Spaniards like to socialize and be out. The crowds are still around, and the streets are filled with people. At first, this could be unsettling if you’re coming from a more isolated living situation. It took me a minute to get used to Barcelona and the masses. When I felt like my personal space was being invaded, I secured my mask and took a side street.

I have to confess that I didn’t expect Spaniards to be so strident about COVID protocols. During my ten years in Spain, I learned that sometimes Spaniards can be rebellious rule-breakers, casually bending the law now and then. But this is different.

Could it be because they were hit so hard in April 2020 at the start of this whole mess? Are the draconian lockdowns still burned into the collective consciousness? I can’t really say, but I can report that it makes me feel safer, and case numbers are down across the country.

During my visit to Spain, I would sometimes look at the news from back home in the United States. I saw surging delta variant cases and hospitals crippled by COVID patients. I saw reports of 2000+ deaths a day. It’s frightening and part of the reason I felt anxious about my international trip all summer. The news is scary and could be adding to your anxiety right now (that would be a pretty normal reaction!).

But the situation in Spain is quite different from what has been happening in the U.S.--Spain is over 79% vaccinated and deaths are down by 40%. This means that of those eligible for the vaccine, 75% have opted to get the jab. Yeah, our numbers in the U.S. are not even close, though I realize it depends on where you live. (This data from October 2021.)

The attitude about the vaccine here is different. People want normalcy back, they want tourism to return, they want to party again, and they are collectively working toward these goals by trusting science and getting the jab.

A crowd of mostly masked people in front of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. People gathered to see the “human castles” compete on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Even though the event is outdoors, people wear masks since they could not always stay 6 feet apart. Generally, people across Spain use masks indoors and outdoors.

Leaving Spain: Upon leaving Spain, the United States requires a negative COVID test taken within three days of departure. These are readily available in major cities, and I helped clients get them.

It is usually a straightforward process taking no more than an hour (even less in Santiago where it was about 15 minutes). You ask for the negative test result to be printed in English so you can show it upon arrival. The costs about 35.00 euros and the antigen test is fine. You need to bring cash to the test site because some of the labs don’t take cards—go figure.

The Takeaway: We each need to do what feels right. If you are ready to get the hell out of your house and travel to Spain, I’m here to say that it seems safe considering we are still in a pandemic. If you need to wait this thing out a bit more and postpone travel, then you do you. My only strong recommendation is that only fully vaccinated people travel internationally to protect themselves and those in the country they visit.

If you would like to see lots of photos from my time in Spain, particularly what it was like to walk the Camino de Santiago during the pandemic, you can view updates on both Facebook and Instagram.

Here are the links for both of those:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boldspirittravelcompany/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boldspirittravel

I love hearing from you. If you have questions about traveling to Europe during the pandemic, please write me here.