Spain this summer (MOD WARNING IN POST 1)

Olwas2014

Lavdogg wrote: »

Im best man for my mate and i sadly booked his stag for Spain at the start of Sept, 19 of us have booked flights and accomadation (350 each) before all of this kicked off in Jan

We can't pull the plug as we will lose all the majority of the money, The airline ( let's call them Bryanair) are sticking to their guns and saying its buisness as usual

Still clinging onto hope that air travel is allowed and everything settles down over the coming weeks. I personally don't know of anyone who has gotten Covid 19 but I am two minds about what i should do, there is such a large degree of unknown about the whole thing

No offence or anything but a stag sounds like an ideal way for the virus to backpack its way back to ireland when parties are probably still risky at this stage not to mind in another country which was hammered with it

watlantic

September is a looong time away in the current climate. Just wait a bit and hope.

Tenzor07

Lavdogg wrote: »

Im best man for my mate and i sadly booked his stag for Spain at the start of Sept, 19 of us have booked flights and accomadation (350 each) before all of this kicked off in Jan
We can't pull the plug as we will lose all the majority of the money, The airline ( let's call them Bryanair) are sticking to their guns and saying its buisness as usual
Still clinging onto hope that air travel is allowed and everything settles down over the coming weeks. I personally don't know of anyone who has gotten Covid 19 but I am two minds about what i should do, there is such a large degree of unknown about the whole thing

Forget about a refund on your flights.

Whoever is organising the trip may get a full or partial refund on your accommodation, though that's only if you Really don't want to go.

September is a few months away so any Irish travel restrictions should be gone by then, plus restrictions on Niteclubs etc. in Spain... So go enjoy yourself..

watlantic

Latest information regarding travel to the Canary Islands (take a pinch of salt with the ''100%'' though, there's no such thing):

https://www.canarianweekly.com/posts/New-mouthwash-test-airports

Good news: as of today 0 new cases, and 0 deaths for 15 days in in the Canaries:

https://www.canarianweekly.com/posts/Canaries-coronavirus-update-28062020

faceman

watlantic wrote: »

Very hefty fines are applied for 'offences' like being found coming from a supermarket without the receipt. More than 62.000 fines and hundreds of arrests in the Canaries alone don't hold promise of a relaxed holiday.

The require to carry a receipt was during the lockdown. You needed proof of why you were travelling. It was a very effective approach to ensuring people were not making unnecessary journeys. Its no longer required.

watlantic wrote: »

Add facemasks even for kids, and all public areas constantly being disinfected with strongest chlorine derivatives and other chemicals, with doctors complaining about the amount of patients presenting with severe breathing difficulties and other symptoms caused by this, even causing lots of pets to die.

Face masks are not mandatory for children under the age of 6 in Spain.

colly10

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Your actions can kill people and that's not fear mongering it's a fact. It is other peoples business, if you want to live in a society you have social responsibilities
Eradication is the only show in town, none of us want to deal with it.

What if you’re travelling to an area with a similar population to Ireland but with far fewer cases? I’d be safer there ye?
Far too many people taking tony’s word as gospel. You can go to an Island that had little or no cases but if the country the island is under is worse than here, it won’t make the list.

I’ll be making my own decisions and couldn’t care less what people who’d prefer that we all live under the bed have to say about it

Lavdogg

Olwas2014 wrote: »

No offence or anything but a stag sounds like an ideal way for the virus to backpack its way back to ireland when parties are probably still risky at this stage not to mind in another country which was hammered with it

100% agree, that silly horse festival back in March caused alot of the cases according to the news!

Kicking myself still that we planned for Spain rather than somewhere here!

Edo20

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I don't believe it. I'm in constant contact with the general public and I'm not seeing 45%. Not even 5%, did they take the survey inside a hospital?
Masks aren't an answer border controls are, then everyone can get back to normal even people going on foreign holidays.

I was in one of our major hospitals today with a relative who needed to get an x-ray - 8 hours sitting in the waiting area of A&E and I would say there was no more than 10% of STAFF were wearing a mask - whatever about rest of the patients - I'd say about the same percentage with them including myself.

It would appear to me that for the vast vast majority of our citizens under the age of 50 - this pandemic is over and happy days are here again - its only old fogies like myself (48 years young) and older who are wearing masks and even we know what its only really stopping us giving this virus to somebody else - masks can be got everywhere now - Meself and the missus have the sanitise/mask on/sanitize/wash hands routine whenever we leave home down to a fine art now after 3 months - the lack of courtesy to our fellow citizens is something to behold .................Summer will not last forever and Winter will come again and God help us all..

Back vaguely on topic - I do have a holiday booked for September - South of France for 2 weeks via Brittany Ferries in a little house beside the beach- all paid for nearly a year ago- and I will be going if all possible despite the public shaming we will get being driven by the CMO who doing his damnedest to cover up the fact that his health service have not used the time wisely to prepare us for living with Covid.

And living with Covid - not hiding away from Covid - is what we are going to have to do. IMHO there will be no vaccine before mid 2022 at the most optimistic - if ever. We might get some anti-virals that may improve the outcomes of those that get this most vile disease. I think the most we can hope for is that this virus uses its brain and realises that killing and severely damaging its host does not have a long term future and decides to mutate into something more benign..........how long that might take to happen.....who knows.....so we have to learn to live with Covid - that means masks , thats means constant hand washing that means higher personal hygiene standards and using basic common sense to treat this virus with the respect it deserves.

The Second part of my little epistle here is that both myself and my good wife work fulltime in an Airport - abeith for different companies. We haven't worked since the beginning of April - are down approx 60% of our income and it doesn't look like we will be returning to work anytime in the near future. If the CMO has his way - well I , and thousands of my colleagues in the whole airport/aviation sector will probably be made permanently unemployed as companies run out of cash and out of a future.....While I totally get where the CMO is coming from ...I dont think he really understands how big the aviation business is here - and how big a contributor to the tax coffers it is.

Ryanair are due to restart operations on 01 Jul - it will be really interesting to see how many people are on those flights with the avalanche of medical advice against travelling and 14 day quarantine still in place. As an Airport worker - we are well used to strict protocols and procedures - we were all masked up , socially distancing and disinfecting everything within an inch of its life before we closed up at the end of March - Airports are , and will be , probably the safest place you will eat or shop in , during this pandemic purely down to the fact that we are totally aware of the threat 24/7 and we will be first to be shut down if there is the slightest suspicion of an outbreak - unlike my local Dunnes Stores this morning , which was crawling with kids , no staff wearing masks, about 10% of the customers wearing all masks - all over 45 years AFAICS , no social distancing etc etc etc.....seriously people!

My main issue is the lack of any proper Health controls at the Border check - just a bored HSE worker giving out leaflets to those arriving passengers advising them to quarantine.....not good enough - we need a proper and rapid testing facility set up at all the Airports and quarantine facilities set up by law and proper co-operation and trust with the rest of the EU....Spain will be no worse than Dublin if everybody uses basic Covid cop -on and I hope everybody who is going to Spain has a lovely holiday - you have the same chance of getting it in the Canaries as Cahersiveen.... probably less with all that UV sunshine

My two cents

dory

We've gotten a lot of reports about this and the France thread. We need to make a decision; stick strictly to talk of travel to Spain and leave the debate on whether or not you should travel at all to a separate thread....or leave it as it is. If leaving it as it is I'll be largely ignoring the reports and letting people debate away (unless there's proper abuse). I'm leaning towards a separate thread for debate on travel....open to suggestions.

Caranica

Separate thread for concerns or bragging about travel please. Almost every thread in this forum in the past week or so has been dragged wildly off topic, often with posters cross posting about Holohan, masks, ignoring self isolation etc.

Tenzor07

dory wrote: »

We've gotten a lot of reports about this and the France thread. We need to make a decision; stick strictly to talk of travel to Spain and leave the debate on whether or not you should travel at all to a separate thread....or leave it as it is. If leaving it as it is I'll be largely ignoring the reports and letting people debate away (unless there's proper abuse). I'm leaning towards a separate thread for debate on travel....open to suggestions.

Well, there's a whole other forum specifically for Covid matters:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058057467[Will you travel? - Travel Discussion Only! Megathread]

Control on the airports from high risk countries please?

and the more technical Covid discussion: Covid19 Part XVIII-25,462 in ROI(1,735 deaths) 5,757 in NI (551 deaths)(29/06)


I know there's better sites out there for Travel advice, Tripadvisor for instance, not to mention all the reviews on Booking.com and 100's of Vblogs on YouTube.

Though to come onto a forum called "Travel" just to see some posters brow beat Tony Holohan rhetoric will put anyone off genuinely asking questions on it, so why bother having a Travel subforum?

dory

Ok, I agree. I just deleted a post that was more Covid debate than travel related. I'll delete off topic posts til people get the point.

Olwas2014

Lavdogg wrote: »

100% agree, that silly horse festival back in March caused alot of the cases according to the news!

Kicking myself still that we planned for Spain rather than somewhere here!

Its a shocker of a situation! Id be constantly going back and forth trying to decide

Granadino

I'm going there this Friday. I've been based between here and Spain for the last year. I was supposed to go back in March but obviously couldn't. My missus is Spanish, and I've been in touch with her daily.
We've been apart for the last 4 months, so I'm going back and I'll be working from "home" there. (To Granada)
Based on the information I've been getting, I wouldn't be going there at all on a holiday.
They're opening it up to the Germans and the British, and for sure it'll be brought into the country by tourists.
A good whack of people aren't playing by the rules and wearing masks etc.
I am guessing the only reason Spain are opening up now is because their economy will be 100% f*cked without tourism. Money talks...

Stratvs

Had Gran Canaria for early June booked since January. Ryanair gave refund/voucher options in May. Took voucher worth €538 rebooked for December ( see how that goes, or not ) for €311. Balance on voucher can be used against future bookings. All quite painless. Accommodation refunded me in full within 3 days. Ended up rebooking with them for Dec €51 less than original.

The Canary Islands have managed the situation very well and will be interesting to see next few months how they fare case wise once things get busier.
Currently have 72 active cases across all islands, 69 at home, 3 in hospital 2 of which in ICU.

https://thecanarynews.com/2020/06/06/latest-canary-islands-confirmed-covid-19-corona-virus-cases-2020-map/

sideline warrior

BobMc wrote: »

Due to Lanza 2nd August, if the government dont want me to travel, insist Ryanair refund my flight costs,

Booked in January. Otherwise we're inclined to go, we save hard for a year to pay for our holidays so make them refund all bookings done before the lockdown or offer defferal till next year. If they are letting travellers in makes a bit of a mockery to
guilt our own, stop incoming too aswell

Meet your brother! Exact same boat, due to travel to Lanzarote on Sunday. Amount of debate & arguing in our house about all the possible scenarios. Govt. are seriously inept on this and it's our new unelected Leader, Dr. Tony who's being given the freedom of the airwaves to tell us what to do in the political vacuum and playing the guilt card to great effect. Don't remember him being on the ballot papers in the election.

BobMc

sideline warrior wrote: »

Meet your brother! Exact same boat, due to travel to Lanzarote on Sunday. Amount of debate & arguing in our house about all the possible scenarios. Govt. are seriously inept on this and it's our new unelected Leader, Dr. Tony who's being given the freedom of the airwaves to tell us what to do in the political vacuum and playing the guilt card to great effect. Don't remember him being on the ballot papers in the election.

this coming sunday? I'm hoping advice will change as that will improve insurance situation, still have EHIC for medical but insurance is always backup, Its very quite there at minute not much open, I'm hoping it stays that way if I'm honest, We're planning Beach and apartment for most part,
eat out alright once daily but no bars

Pinklady09

sideline warrior wrote: »

Meet your brother! Exact same boat, due to travel to Lanzarote on Sunday. Amount of debate & arguing in our house about all the possible scenarios. Govt. are seriously inept on this and it's our new unelected Leader, Dr. Tony who's being given the freedom of the airwaves to tell us what to do in the political vacuum and playing the guilt card to great effect. Don't remember him being on the ballot papers in the election.

Are you going to go Sideline? We’re flying to Alicante on Friday but the media demonising of anyone going abroad is getting to me! My employer won’t be happy if I have to quarantine on return so really hope there’s a green list in place in the 9th

Stratvs

sideline warrior wrote: »

Meet your brother! Exact same boat, due to travel to Lanzarote on Sunday.

Regardless of the should/shouldn't debate, it is very quiet there. I'm in constant contact with friends who have been there since BC and the tourist bars/restaurants are very slow in opening.
Maybe 10% currently in the resorts while Arrecife is busy enough. It will be a different than usual experience. Masks on public transport and in shops and enforced by the Policía with fines.

Check out this guys vlogs
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqyqzILrS_fA3z0UmDRebeQ

That being said the weather is excellent.

sideline warrior

BobMc wrote: »

this coming sunday? I'm hoping advice will change as that will improve insurance situation, still have EHIC for medical but insurance is always backup, Its very quite there at minute not much open, I'm hoping it stays that way if I'm honest, We're planning Beach and apartment for most part,
eat out alright once daily but no bars

Yip, Sunday the 5th. Our EHIC cards are in date. Also staying in private house, have rental car so no public transport, planning on beach only, takeaways and eating out occassionally if restaurants are quiet. Will do all the usual stuff like masks, sanitisation etc. I think the airports and planes will be as sterile as possible. Lanza currently has 1 active case and has been virtually covid-19 free. More chance of picking it up here in the shopping centres, pubs etc. where no masks and a much more relaxed vibe now around the place. Believe me, we've spoken about nothing else at home and have had plenty of rows but unless there's some Govt intervention, we're going to go as we've weighed up all the risks and feel that we're not taking any more risks than we would have here. Can't staycate as our hard-earned and hard-saved money is with Ryanair. I can see both sides to the argument but we have to learn to live with the risks and make personal decisions based on individual circumstances. It's now almost like a civil war and if you travel you're public enemy #1.

ninebeanrows

sideline warrior wrote: »

Yip, Sunday the 5th. Our EHIC cards are in date. Also staying in private house, have rental car so no public transport, planning on beach only, takeaways and eating out occassionally if restaurants are quiet. Will do all the usual stuff like masks, sanitisation etc. I think the airports and planes will be as sterile as possible. Lanza currently has 1 active case and has been virtually covid-19 free. More chance of picking it up here in the shopping centres, pubs etc. where no masks and a much more relaxed vibe now around the place. Believe me, we've spoken about nothing else at home and have had plenty of rows but unless there's some Govt intervention, we're going to go as we've weighed up all the risks and feel that we're not taking any more risks than we would have here. Can't staycate as our hard-earned and hard-saved money is with Ryanair. I can see both sides to the argument but we have to learn to live with the risks and make personal decisions based on individual circumstances. It's now almost like a civil war and if you travel you're public enemy #1.

Go on your holiday. Be responsible and be safe. We cannot live in fear forever. Every choice we make carries risk.

Stratvs

sideline warrior wrote: »

Lanza currently has 1 active case and has been virtually covid-19 free.

as at 05:00 today 30/06/2020 make that 0 active cases in Lanza.

https://thecanarynews.com/2020/06/06/latest-canary-islands-confirmed-covid-19-corona-virus-cases-2020-map/

sideline warrior

Pinklady09 wrote: »

Are you going to go Sideline? We’re flying to Alicante on Friday but the media demonising of anyone going abroad is getting to me! My employer won’t be happy if I have to quarantine on return so really hope there’s a green list in place in the 9th

Right now we're travelling. The quarantine on return is the biggest issue though and we're hoping that Spain will be on the list. Lanzarote is very safe but I don't think they can name the Canary Islands alone as it has to be the whole country. I know the voices of dissent on forums are very loud, provocative and at time hateful (I hope they've all followed all the guidelines themselves to date?!?) but I've spoken with lots of people and they say go, take all necessary precautions and don't do anything stupid while out there. Every time we leave the house is a risk but that's life. We've weighed it all up and this is our decision.

neris

Son is booked to go to Malaga area in mid July with his cousin from Dublin and other cousins and friends traveling from another part of the EU. They,ll be using public transport though to get from the airport to their accommodation and are the kind of lads who,ll stay in the house for the week. Their chuffed with themselves to be going. I did go in March for a week and was adamant about going at the time but looking back then and what happened after it probably wasnt the smartest move and we were lucky to be on the last flight out. The uptake on Villa rentals down where we go is very low at the moment and the Brits are still holding off booking it seems so there may be bargains going along with cheap flights

Tazz T

wheresmybeaver wrote: »

It's a really spineless response from the government. They don't have the leverage to actually close airports or prevent ryanair / aer lingus from flying, so instead they're shaming and guilting people who have put serious money into prebooked flights to stay at home and likely lose that money.

The government aren't even forcing Ryanair to process the refunds that they're legally obligated to do. That's the absolute minimum they should do if they expect people not to travel.

Granadino

Sleety_Rain wrote: »

Go on your holiday. Be responsible and be safe. We cannot live in fear forever. Every choice we make carries risk.

That's probably the best thing to do. As I mentioned, I said I would be nervous about going to a resort. I wouldn't *not* go, but if for example I hadn't booked a holiday abroad this year, I would probably wait it out for a few months, maybe look to go somewhere sunny towards the end of the year.

wonka

Similar to a post above, we have flights booked with Ryanair to Alicante since Jan (>1000 euro) and also a non-refundable villa stay (another grand). Due to go this Sunday and we've weighed up all the points and made the decision to go... unless things change in the next few days. Yes, we could change the flights to august but really feel that it is less risk to go now and be back before the situation could potentially escalate in August. We intend staying by the pool/Beach and cooking - taking all precautions if need to go out etc. Also intend to comply with any self isolation as required upon return.

faceman

Sleety_Rain wrote: »

Unfortunately without any leadership from our elected representatives on this it will be the EU and UK who drive what happens here.

Once we hear what air-bridges the UK is opening up I expect we will follow suit.

From 1 July we will be breaking EU guidance by not allowing open internal EU borders.

Hopefully the EU will start fining Ireland heavily if we do not comply.

- You've got as much chance of catching the virus in Dublin then in pretty much any other EU country

Just on this, Ireland isn't breaking any EU guidance as the guidance refers to Shengen and the EU has always allowed each country autonomy on borders during the crisis.

That being said if Ireland continues to keep the borders closed to EU citizens then pressure may mount.

drunkmonkey

Irelands borders never closed we didn't call a state of emergency. They were ramping up the forced quarantine on the radio earlier for people returning, I'd expect the government to make a move shortly and hotels will be made available to hold people until their satisfied there ok. A simple check at the airport isn't enough and people can't be trusted to self isolate on their return was the jist of it.

jimmycrackcorm

Going to Madrid for a weekend in a few weeks time. I'm pissed off at the travel insurance which has the provisio that you're not covered if the DFA has travel advisory for the country you're going to. Even though it won't be possible for me to have any claims related to covid.