London Dude

Are face masks still mandatory on flights to/from Spain?!

nlclhc

Yes they are.

London Dude

OK thanks. I had no idea, it must be the only country left in Europe that still mandates them on flights. Any idea as to when the Spanish govt might lift the requirement? I just booked flights to the US via MAD in Oct, and I might reroute my itinerary if flying via MAD entails having to wear a mask for a dozen hours in a row.

theplayer

how can a country like Spain mandate that passengers on a private airline not over their airspace must
where a mask? I realize the obvious answer is that they can do whatever the heck they want and if an airline doesn't want to enforce, they can ban that airline from their country.
But my point is just that it seems like such a dramatic overreach of power.
Everyone on the entire aircraft could be vaxed and double boosted but still all be infected with Covid...so what's the point?..especially leaving the country, that is even more ridiculous.

estnet

Then it's a good thing you don't want to be a doctor or nurse

LupineChemist

I can say that if you're flying from the US on a US airline, it almost certainly won't be enforced. If flying IB it probably will be.

And yeah, it's annoying and lots of people are ignoring the public transport part of the rules at this point on the Madrid Metro but unfortunately there's not a huge push to change anything since it's not that disruptive to life.

swiss_global

Yes, IB does enforce it, I think they have to because they operate under a Spanish AOC. Can confirm that foreign carriers serving Spain are more lenient.

London Dude

Great thanks. I just spoke to a friend in the US who flew Delta to MAD and back a month ago, and he confirmed that Delta did not enforce it on its flights between the US and Spain.

theplayer

well, I'm flying IB, will test how strictly they enforce because my mouth and nose will not be covered for 7 hours, one way or another.

JessicaB

I fly IB quite frequently and they tend to enforce it far more on the short hauls and in Y. If you are in J long-haul then they serve pre-departure Cava then drinks reasonably quickly into the flight and then the meal and I just keep my mask off during all that time and just sip my drink slowly. Nothing has ever been said, even in the depths of the pandemic. Then when the lights go out for the bulk of the flight and the crew disappear, again you can lie down and take off the mask. And then the second meal. So in reality most of the time you're not wearing the mask. Just put it on when you get on the plane and if you get up to go to use the washroom and have it lingering around your neck and you'll be fine.

Yllanes

Wearing a mask on the flight is the law right now. If you do not want to do it, don't fly IB.

theplayer

ok, sure...who's law? Until I'm in Spain's airspace, they don't have any jurisdiction over me.
A mask will be on my head, but won't be covering my nose and mouth, I like to breath.

London Dude

This is a very odd comment. Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past two years would be aware that the US, UK, Italy, France, Germany and the rest of the EU's countries mandated by law that masks be worn on all flights to/from their countries. People have been walked off aircraft in handcuffs for refusing to wear masks on board, and back in January an AA flight from MIA to LHR was forced to turn back to MIA so that a first-class passenger who refused to wear a mask could be booted off the aircraft. Spain is the only country that hasn't lifted the requirement yet, but most countries still had it in place as recently as May 2022.

JessicaB

Surely the merits of wearing or not wearing a mask has been done to death on many many threads on this forum. The OP asked how strict Iberia was in enforcing the policy. Not whether or not one should wear a mask at all.

theplayer

It's odd that a country 3,000 miles away can mandate that I must wear a mask. Sure, IB can and that's fine. Sorry, just venting a bit at Spain being so ridiculous..still.