SPAIN: 8 Million EU COVID Certificates issued — And Counting

Spain is one of the first countries to start issuing and recognizing the EU Digital COVID
Certificate, 20 days ahead of the date set by the European Regulation.
The favorite format is the electronic certificate

A GUIDEPOST Report

Spain’s regional governments have been in a position for some time now to issue the EU Digital COVID Certificate by means of a face-to-face and/or electronic application in its three forms: vaccination, recovery and diagnostic test. On 7 June, Spain became one of the first countries to start issuing and recognizing the Certificate, 20 days ahead of the date set by the European Regulation.

By mid-August, more than 18,177,202 certificates have been issued, including 17,361,058 vaccination certificates, 400,522 recovery certificates and 415,622 diagnostic test certificates. The electronic format is the choice of the majority of the people.

The certificate is issued free of charge in electronic or paper formats through the regional governments. In addition, the certificate for vaccination and recovery from the disease can be obtained from the electronic head office of the Ministry of Health.

The Regional Governments that have issued the most certificates in relation to their population are the Canary Islands (57% of their citizens already have an EU Digital COVID Certificate), Galicia (55%) and Catalonia (52%). The lowest are the Region of Murcia (21%), Castile-La Mancha (20%), and Madrid (16%).

One of the main objectives of this system is to facilitate safe mobility and movement between EU member states. In this sense, 803,207 travelers have benefited from the Fast Control access route to Spain, using their Certificate in the SPTH application. At ports, 5,102 people have accessed the fast track.

The European Commission continues to work towards mutual recognition of certificates from third countries of strategic importance to the European Union, like the United Kingdom. San Marino, Vatican and Switzerland already issue interoperable certificates and others are in the pipeline. These include those from North Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, Faroe Islands and Andorra. Other countries such as Morocco and Monaco have also shown interest.

The correct implementation of this certificate has been a decisive step in opening Spain to safe international mobility and has been possible thanks to the joint effort of the Ministry of Health and the regional governments.

Source: La Moncloa

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Featured image: Traveler/Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay; Covid-vaccine certificate, Ministry of Health, Fair use