Catch - 22. HELP - Page 2

Hi Mike, we are in a similar situation to you & we have sold our UK property.

We arrived at the Portsmouth yesterday to board the ferry to Santander. We have everything you mentioned, we also had copies of our applications of Residencia plus a letter from our solicitor saying our property is sold. I also asked our Spanish solicitor for a letter but he didnt come good. Anyway they were happy with all our paperwork but they didnt let us board because.......we were travelling with our 2 pet cats & the vet missed stamping & signing two pages of the new pet certificate But they kindly rebooked us for next weeks crossing & made a note about the cats certificate.

I had to phone Brittany last week to add a cat on as you can only book one at a time on their website. The lady said to me did we have our green cards & I said yes but like you we need to get there to complete it all.

We originally wanted to travel through France but I heard they weren't accepting PCR covid tests they want you to have a more in depth one, very expensive plus it also says on the web you had to isolate for 7 days on arrival which isn't ideal for us with the cats.

I say go for it via Santander & try to get a Solicitor's letter confirming your appointment dates. I'm sure you will be fine.

If you have any questions or want to chat just message me. Good luck

Sue

Hi Sue.  can i ask how much the pets certificate costs as we have two dogs to have done

Sue - my understanding is that only PCR tests are now acceptable for entry into France.  The rule changed on January 18th, and before then a Rapid Antigen swab test was acceptable.  Spain has always insisted on PCR, and that was the problem that I found when trying to catch a ferry from Portsmouth - trying to have a test less than 72 hours before arrival in Spain, but having the results to show before being allowed to board in Portsmouth, when also factoring in turn around times for the test and allowing for labs to be closed on weekends and bank holidays.  If you go via France then that timing issue goes away.  Obviously travelling with pets adds further complications. 

I presume some people must be successfully managing to get the PCR test and still catch a Santander-Portsmouth ferry, and I would be very keen to hear how they have managed it and details of suitable test providers.  Boots, for example, just say "results usually available within 48 hours", which isn't quick enough, even if they do hit 48 hours.  Last time I used a private clinic for a Rapid Antigen swab test to go via France, but even that ended up being touch-and-go as there was a problem with delivery of the results.

Well when we looked into it & it was also on bbc news that Macron was asking for a different test, so we decided against going through France.

Anyhow we were PCR tested at a private clinic in London at 4pm Sunday with results the following day. We had them by 11am by text & emailed certificates. So we had 72 hours from Sunday at 4pm when were tested, to arrive in Spain before 4pm Wednesday. Ths boat if on time would have docked at 2.30pm. So we would have just managed it. I will say those tests cost a lot of money & now we have to do it all again  😔

Yes of course. He charged us £100 in total for the new certificates. However in case you dont know, pets can't enter Europe without rabies vaccines, so back in October they were rabies vaccinated  full health check to travel plus pet passports which are now invalid & that cost us £272 so I guess it depends on whether they have been vaccinated as that cost a lot xx

Would you be willing to share details of the clinic?  Could prove very useful!  

It’s a total nightmare.  Let’s just pray it is over soon.   Our two have EU passports issued in Romania within the last year for one and two years for the other so Technically we should only need to make sure all boosters are done, but too risky so we will get the certs anyway because we are coming from U.K. it’s just so annoying.  I had got one a certificate before, a couple of years ago, when we “Thought “ Brexit May happen while we were away ,  so our vet knew all about it then But the cert was only a admin charge £10.  one sheet of paper !   Money making exercise now then, as per usual !   However, when i asked the vet this morning she said two consults at £29 so, £58 plus two at £10. £78. so not far away from your £100 for both.    Thanks for the info 

Yes of course I will message you x

Hello to all.  I have had my first vaccine in Olula on the 14th April 2021. The 2nd is on 

5/5/21 in Olula.   How do I go about getting proof of these vaccines

Many thanks

Terry

I have been told, that once you have your 2nd jab, you can down load a certificate onto your phone. Hopefully they give you the info of how to do that when you have your 2nd Jab, as my husband is in same position as you.