Bonzodog

Due to health issues I am unable to drive back to the U.K. from Valencia.
Would it be ok for my son to fly here and drive me back the next day, first driving to the ferry in Bilbao, approx the middle of June.
Would any restrictions apply, such as my Son being allowed to fly here and the one person per car regulation,
or would special circumstances apply ?

bobd22

As it stands I can't see your son being allowed into Spain as only residents with residencia allowed to enter. Are you sure there will be ferries in June? I have ferry booked for end of May which I am awaiting formal cancellation of. I haven't read anywhere when ports may open for passengers. I'm sure at some point they will sort some sort of EU travel out but at the moment who knows I'm afraid .

Bridie55

Having experienced 3 cancelled ferries your best bet is to travel to Dieppe. Not sure if your son can get a ferry to collect you and Dfds don't do walk on. But if you can drive to there you can get home.

bobd22

Sorry I was referring to Santander or Bilbao rather than French Ports .

Fredbargate

There are provisions for people to drive others for medical reasons.I do this five days a week, entering and leaving Spain with the patient
However I do not know if this will cover your situation

Bonzodog

Thanks for that Fred.
Do you have to make an application of some sort and if so who to and where ?

olivefarmer

The key question is where are you habitually resident. I.e. do you live in Spain or in the UK?

Bonzodog

I have Spanish residencia however I presume my options would be better if I’m habitually resident in the U.K.?

SanDiegogirl

Is your journey essential? If not, they are asking you to stay home.

Fredbargate

Hi Bonzo
I am only the driver not the patient.
The patient has paperwork from the Gibraltar Health Authority outlining the neede for treatment at a clinic in Spain as one procedure is not available in Gib.
Also paperwork from the Spanish clinic and a specialist doctor explaining similar.
This paperwork allows us to cross the frontier and pass through road checks
I have paperwork explaining I am the dedicated driver.
We have more problems with the Spanish border personel leaving Spain than entering.

You will probably need something similar, But from where??

My paperwork dates from April 8th although some testing was done earlier.

olivefarmer

Ok, here is my take on the situation.

You can't switch your habitual residence at will. If you were a UK resident things would have been easier. Each country is making efforts to repatriate their residents. You will have seen flights being organised. As posters have said you can physically drive to the short crossing channel ports.

What you need is for things to return to a degree of normality to facilitate your plan. Who knows when that will be? It may be that by June your plan would be easier to achieve. There are a lot of us trapped in similar circumstances.

We don't need to know your health issues but I would say you need to approach your Spanish GP. If for example you were a chronic asthmatic and the pollen season was going to be injurious to your health , they would help you with permission to travel to an area in Spain with lower/little pollen. It is in their interests that you do not end up in a worse condition in hospital. Of course you still have your driving issue. They might be able to suggest options suitable for you to tide you over till your son can get over.

Bob. We have been finding that the Long route ferries are advising formally the "cancellation" of passenger car bookings a fortnight before sailing date. There must be a lot in a similar position making car bookings as we couldn't make a booking until July (admittedly with a dog). Life, with all its attendant problems, goes on......

bobd22

Yes that is my understanding no doubt next week I will receive the cancellation. You either wait for that or have to pay to amend or cancel. Other thing from what I read on Brittany Ferry site is each part of journey is seperate even though booked as return. Even though without the outward journey then the return to Spain is of no use. They say if return is within 30 days you can also apply for a voucher for the return. Mine is 5 weeks so that will be something else to sort out. I agree with you it's a pain but we just have to wait for situation to change which it surely must at some point. Also I agree with your comment to the OP that residency is key to travel to or from UK currently.

Barriej

The Brittany ferries website was in a mess on tuesday. I tried to change our one way ticket for July 4th to sometime in August but couldn't.

The site is now working and Ive just changed our trip to mid August. Although the website is still saying that the ferry on the 16th of May is still going to leave.

There was no extra charge to rebook, just the difference in cost (we are now on a different route and a bigger ferry)
I believe they are now updating the site weekly.

With our revised booking I have a note saying that any ferry sailing from now until at least late August, you MUST book a cabin and there will be social distancing going on (you can assume masks will need to be worn in the public areas and the restaurants will be closed).
Doesn't bother me as we need to get to Spain as we don't have a fixed address here in the Uk anymore, we are stuck with my son in a one bed flat (and now for an extra month or so longer than planned for)

bobd22

Thanks for that. Yes they have so far only cancelled trips up to and including 15 May mine is 27th. I believe reason for that is that 15 May is date that ports are closed until. Once that's extended no doubt mine will be cancelled. My problem is I need to go both ways as collecting wife she is currently UK resident and me spanish resident. That was to ensure we were covered for Brexit but then along csme Covid 19.

bobd22

The Brittany Ferry site now shows all passenger sailing cancelled untill 1 June.