The President of the Government of Spain Presented the Digital Green Certificate at FITUR
The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, presented the Digital Green Certificate at FITUR 2021, which held its special edition Tourism Recovery Special from 19th to 23rd May. The event, which took place at the Turespaña stand, was also attended by Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Carolina Darias, Minister of Health, and IFEMA chairman José Vicente de los Mozos.
Sánchez explained at FITUR that the European Union had finally approved the Digital Green Certificate (European Union Digital COVID Certificate) and expressed his conviction that “implementing this certificate and relaxing restrictions on non-essential travel from other countries will allow us to have a much better summer than in 2020.” And he added that with the digital certificate, which was scheduled to be implemented by 1st July, “Spain will resume all its activities safely, and we’ll achieve mobility within the European Union this summer.”
Sánchez explained how the Digital Green Certificate works and that the European Union has been working on it for several months with the aim of restarting international tourism. The certificate will be issued by Spain’s Ministry of Health and the regional governments. It will enable safe travel within the European Union by certifying that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19 or has had a negative diagnostic test result or has recovered from the disease.
FITUR 2021, an Exceptional Event
In another vein, the President of Spain’s Government reminded attendees that “FITUR was the last major trade fair to be held in our country before the pandemic, in January 2020, and it has been the first major world fair to be held again in person.” And he emphasised that “the tourism sector, with its huge economic benefits, is tremendously important to this country. In 2019 it represented 14.1% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”
He explained that for this reason, the Government had decided to declare this year’s fair an event of exceptional public interest. “This year, more than ever, FITUR is a key milestone for Spain, for its economy, its prospects, its opportunities and its progress, because tourism will be the driving force that allows us to overcome the economic crisis and begin our recovery.”