The U.S. State Department issued updated travel advisories for Spain and Portugal on Monday, recommending Americans avoid travel to the two European destinations amid COVID-19 outbreaks occurring mostly among unvaccinated individuals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also issued its highest Level 4 Travel Health Notice (indicating a high level of COVID-19) for the two popular overseas destinations this summer, encouraging people to avoid visiting but to make sure that they are fully vaccinated against the virus if they must travel.
"Do not travel to Spain due to COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in Spain due to terrorism and civil unrest," the department states. "Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine."
Both countries have reopened to U.S. travelers, with Spain no longer requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result and Portugal requiring visitors to show a recent negative test result or proof of recovery from the virus within the past 90 days.
As of July 27, Spain has reported more than 4.3 million COVID-19 cases, including over 81,000 deaths nationwide while Portugal has reported just under 1 million cases, including 17,301 deaths. Both countries have experienced a jump in cases compared to this past spring but have yet to reach levels that prompted lockdowns last winter.
The State Department issued updated travel advisories for 14 other countries as well on Monday, including Bulgaria and Malta (Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions); Barbados, Curacao, Kosovo, Ukraine (Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution); Armenia, Croatia, Eswatini, Hungary, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza (Level 3: Reconsider Travel) and Cuba, Cyprus and the Kyrgyz Republic (Level 4: Do Not Travel).
Monday's advisories come just one week after U.S. officials warned Americans to avoid travel to the United Kingdom due to rising cases of COVID-19.
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