Doubts on day one of the EU’s Digital Covid Certificate system: ‘I hope they don’t ask us for it’

The Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport was still bereft of large crowds on Thursday morning. There were a few passengers surrounded by suitcases outside Terminal 1, however. “Have we got everything?” asked one of the group. The ensuing checks of their luggage did not include the European Union’s Digital COVID Certificate, a document that is aimed at helping get EU residents moving again now that the Covid-19 vaccination campaign is progressing at pace across the 27-country bloc.

Up until Tuesday, Spain had issued 3.4 million of these certificates, according to the Health Ministry. They are being issued by each regional health authority, and can either be applied for in digital format or in paper form. The Catalonia region tops the list, with 600,000 documents distributed. Madrid, meanwhile, did not start to make them available until Thursday, the official launch day for the system. Users were faced with repeated problems with the online system, which the regional health department confirmed and attributed to the “huge demand for the service.” The Madrid authorities have committed to strengthening the system.

All of Spain’s regions and its autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla are now able to issue the EU certificates, which are available via the regional health services. (Residents of Spain should check with their regional healthcare system as to how exactly they can access the certificate.) Three territories, however – Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and La Rioja – are only issuing them for two of the factors they cover: those who have had Covid-19 and recovered, and those who have been vaccinated. These three regions are not yet issuing certificates that confirm a negative coronavirus test.

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