When Can You Fly Out of Spain After the State of Alarm?

When will it be possible to fly out of Spain again?

"When can I see my family in Portugal and Luxembourg again?" This question opens the conversation, yet today no one has an answer that withstands scrutiny. Royal Decree 463/2020, which established the state of alarm (a legal emergency measure), limited travel to strictly unavoidable cases. The Schengen Area was effectively closed: it only functions for goods and a handful of repatriation flights. Almost all countries have closed their borders to Spain, with few exceptions such as Belarus, Turkmenistan, and half a dozen African states. In short: leaving is possible, but you must justify it and undergo extensive controls. For tourism, forget it.

From April to September: the timeline people are considering

No one completely rules out April, but most consider it lost. Forecasts extend between May and September, and here lies the problem: if the state of alarm is extended every fifteen days and the law allows it to last up to six months, the departure date shifts automatically every two weeks. A well-argued scenario places reopening starting in June, and only with a new health control system: medical tests, PCR, or certificates. In the worst-case scenario, discussions mention September.

The most repeated detail is not aeronautical, but bureaucratic: it is not enough for Spain to open. The destination country must also accept Spanish entrants. Over this hangs an uncomfortable label that has settled in the debate: Spain as one of the countries with the most cases, treated as a pariah at any border. The relevant question is no longer when a plane leaves, but who lets you board it.

The real bottleneck: the receiving country

France has banned the arrival of seasonal workers from Portugal and Spain, according to reports. Today this makes some sanitary sense; in a few months, less so. The EU faces the dilemma of restricting tourism to Italy, Spain, Portugal, or Greece, and the cost for those economies would be devastating. At the same time, there is movement of essential workers across Europe: Romanians employed in Germany and the Netherlands, sometimes with mandatory fifteen-day quarantine upon arrival, a format already applied in countries like Kazakhstan for returning nationals.

The practical consequence for those seeking work abroad is clear: you can negotiate and interview by phone, but moving requires that both origin and destination allow circulation. A contract signed in Brussels is useless if there is no way to set foot there. Those who received such offers and hit the wall tell it firsthand.

The Portuguese scenario: car before plane

For the Iberian Peninsula specifically, there is an intermediate route. If the border with Portugal reopens, you can drive, resolve the family visit, and from there plan a flight with more options than from Spain. It is the shortcut several recommend, avoiding waiting for your local airport to resume activity. Luxembourg Airport, for example, planned to reopen in mid-April, but without knowing what services or prices would offer. And those returning from Spain, they warn, face a series of tests.

Regarding prices, there is little doubt. Low-cost tourism is considered obsolete, with or without a climate tax. More expensive flights, fewer frequencies, more social distancing in queues. The combination of fuel costs, pent-up demand, and airlines idle for months does not invite cheap tickets. Some would not even board a plane that had been without maintenance.

Health certificate, tracking apps, and domestic tourism

The other major issue is the health filter. There is speculation about an immunity or vaccination card, similar to those required for yellow fever or malaria, as an entry requirement. Also about tracking apps or mandatory prior tests. Nothing is confirmed, but the trend points that way. In France, according to circulating information, the population is being prepared to spend holidays within the country to avoid a second wave of infections upon return.

The Operation Paso del Estrecho (the annual ferry operation for migrants returning to North Africa) appears on the horizon as a separate case, and it is assumed it will be maintained for humanitarian reasons even if everything else closes. In parallel, there is debate on whether the EU has authority to block bilateral tourism agreements between countries, for example between Spain and Portugal, or if each government negotiates its own deals.