SPAIN’S TOURISM MINISTER has said the country will be ready to welcome back tourists in June.  

The European Union has previously set out plans for Covid-19 certificates that could be used by holidaymakers this summer.

MEPs will today vote on a proposal for Digital Green Certificates.

These certs would be accepted as “proof” a person has either been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the virus, according to the European Commission’s proposal.

Countries like Spain and Greece have pushed for these certificates to be introduced, as their economies are heavily reliant on the summer holiday season.

Spain says a digital certificate scheme is currently being trialled with a view to a wider rollout in June.

Spain’s tourism minister Fernando Valdes Verelst told a travel and tourism conference in Mexico: “I think the best thing that Governments right now can provide to travellers is certainty, give the proper information and the security that they can travel and they can come back to the countries.

“In those terms, in the European Union, we put in place a system … that provides us with digital certificate.

“Spain is going to be ready in June to use this digital certificate. We are doing a pilot programme in May, in all our 46 airports.

“We are going to give all these travellers that certainty. Spain is going to be ready in June to tell all travellers worldwide that you can visit us.”

If approved by the European Parliament, the Irish government would be obliged to issue Digital Green Certificates when they are requested by citizens for international travel.