PCR test timings confusion

Hanababe1

Hi all

We are off to Majorca next week (thursday 8am). My son needs a pcr test as has only had one vaccination.

I am a little confused regarding timings for the test.

My question is, do you need to have the results within 48hrs of arriving in spain or take the test within 48hrs. Taking the test within 48hrs is potentially cutting it fine as some test centres take up to 48hrs to send the results back....

Many thanks

Ben1989

The gov.uk website's travel advice to Spain states this:

"From 2 July 2021, the Spanish government requires all arrivals to Spain from the UK (excluding children under the age of 12 years old) to present on entry one of the following:

• documentation issued within 48 hours prior to arrival in Spain, certifying that you have undertaken a COVID-19 test, e.g. PCR, TMA, LAMP or NEAR, and tested negative. Antigen tests are not currently accepted for the majority of travellers"

So to me that looks like as long as your certificate is within 48 hours prior to arrival then that satisfies their requirements. But, there is also a risk you get your certificate too soon with this. Just take that into account and also account for a few hours delay.

Sandtree

Hanababe1 said:

My question is, do you need to have the results within 48hrs of arriving in spain or take the test within 48hrs. Taking the test within 48hrs is potentially cutting it fine as some test centres take up to 48hrs to send the results back....

FCO states 48 hours of arrival... best is always to try and get it from the official government website but that will depend on how your spanish language skills are.

It certainly does mean cutting it fine so will need to look for one offering an appropriate service... as is too common in the UK these days distress purchases become commoditised and people buy on price alone. When we needed an express service there were plenty saying short timescales but if you look at their T&Cs they are very clear its on a best endeavors basis only and no guarantee/liability. We ended up going with a local clinic we could do the test on site at who were using a near by lab and couriering the samples there every couple of hours... all the tests done with them were turned around within 24 hours (at the time they were competitively priced but they've not slashed their prices so are now expensive compared ot the £45 options etc)

Hanababe1

Sandtree said:

Hanababe1 said:

My question is, do you need to have the results within 48hrs of arriving in spain or take the test within 48hrs. Taking the test within 48hrs is potentially cutting it fine as some test centres take up to 48hrs to send the results back....

FCO states 48 hours of arrival... best is always to try and get it from the official government website but that will depend on how your spanish language skills are.

It certainly does mean cutting it fine so will need to look for one offering an appropriate service... as is too common in the UK these days distress purchases become commoditised and people buy on price alone. When we needed an express service there were plenty saying short timescales but if you look at their T&Cs they are very clear its on a best endeavors basis only and no guarantee/liability. We ended up going with a local clinic we could do the test on site at who were using a near by lab and couriering the samples there every couple of hours... all the tests done with them were turned around within 24 hours (at the time they were competitively priced but they've not slashed their prices so are now expensive compared ot the £45 options etc)

That's great thankyou. I will try to find someone local that can do it for us

Hanababe1

Ben1989 said:

The gov.uk website's travel advice to Spain states this:

"From 2 July 2021, the Spanish government requires all arrivals to Spain from the UK (excluding children under the age of 12 years old) to present on entry one of the following:

• documentation issued within 48 hours prior to arrival in Spain, certifying that you have undertaken a COVID-19 test, e.g. PCR, TMA, LAMP or NEAR, and tested negative. Antigen tests are not currently accepted for the majority of travellers"

So to me that looks like as long as your certificate is within 48 hours prior to arrival then that satisfies their requirements. But, there is also a risk you get your certificate too soon with this. Just take that into account and also account for a few hours delay.

thankyou so much, really appreciate it!

parkerparker

Your return trip from Spain to UK requires an antigen test only within 3 days of return. Expect to pay around 30 euros. Don't be duped into paying for a PCR test to get back to the UK.

mjmcmahon

I can't post links yet but the gov foreign travel advice page now seems to suggest it is 72 hours from arrival

From 2 July 2021, the Spanish government requires all arrivals to Spain from the UK (excluding children under the age of 12 years old) to present on entry one of the following:

documentation certifying that you have undertaken a COVID-19 nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT - e.g. PCR, TMA, LAMP or NEAR) within 72 hours prior to arrival in Spain and tested negative. Antigen tests are only accepted in certain limited circumstances as outlined in section ‘k’ of the ‘Entry requirements for entry in Spain from third countries’ on the Spanish Ministry of Health ‘Travel and COVID-19’ page (see information on limited exceptions below).

proof of being fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arrival in Spain (date(s) of vaccination must be specified), with a vaccine authorised by the European Medicines Agency or by the World Health Organisation