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I recently purchased round trip tickets from Canada to Spain stopping in London. I made the purchase through kiwi.com (absolutely never use this site) so the tickets were separate. I was able to fly into London with no problem, but when checking in to my flight to Spain, the Ryanair person told me I wasn’t able to board due to Covid regulations. I checked the EU regulations, and Canadians are allowed to enter Spain. However the Ryanair person told me that because I was flying through the UK I wasn’t allowed to board. That same day I tried purchasing a flight to Portugal in person with an easy jet representative, but I was told that I wouldn’t be able to board either. I ended up traveling into France via train. Can someone please explain why I wasn’t allowed into Europe by plane from the UK?

My next, and more important, question is if I will be allowed into the UK by plane from Spain? My flight to Canada leaves from London. I am currently in Spain and need to fly over to London to catch that flight.

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  • @Yusef Are you transiting the UK airside? – Traveller Sep 3 '20 at 20:04
  • @Traveller Irrelevant, it's the UK-Spain leg OP was refused for – Crazydre Sep 3 '20 at 20:08
  • @Crazydre The OP is also asking about their return trip via the UK. Their route is Spain > UK > Canada. Quarantine may be relevant if the OP plans to enter the UK – Traveller Sep 3 '20 at 20:09
  • @Traveller UK has no entry restrictions (other than having to pre-register online), hence no issue. Writing an answer – Crazydre Sep 3 '20 at 20:10
  • @Traveller Well even if OP were to stay overnight, so what? How does self-isolating at the hotel jeopardise the trip in any way? – Crazydre Sep 3 '20 at 20:13
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Per TIMATIC, the database used by airlines, as a Canadian citizen and resident you're only allowed to enter Spain if flying directly from Canada, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania or a Schengen state. That's why you were denied boarding.

As the UK doesn't have an entry ban, you'll be good for the return trip, though if staying overnight, you're supposed to stick to your hotel (self-isolating)

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  • Thank you, this is very helpful! – Yosef Sep 3 '20 at 22:03
  • @Yosef If the answer satisfies you, please press the button below the down arrow to accept it – Crazydre Sep 3 '20 at 22:55
  • do you know why that regulation is in place? It seems silly to me that I can enter from Canada but not from the UK. Also do you know how I could prevent this in the future, as in how would I have known this before hand? – Yosef Sep 4 '20 at 8:04
  • @Yosef No idea tbh, normally it should be if arriving from EU/Schengen/UK and some third countries such as Canada. Whatever TIMATIC says though, that's what airlines go by. Tried emailing the Spanish border police but at the only email address I know, they refuse to deal with the public. – Crazydre Sep 4 '20 at 8:19

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