(CNN) — Rodrigo Leal and Irma Cáceres were working at the same company in Mexico City for two years before they crossed paths.

And when they finally met, it wasn’t at an office-wide meeting, or while making coffee in their workplace kitchen — it was to plan an international vacation together.

It was the spring of 2011 and 31-year-old Rodrigo was looking forward to visiting family in Finland later that year.

He was treating the summer trip to Scandinavia as an opportunity to explore Europe and he’d booked some extra vacation time before and after the family reunion.

While traveling solo was an option, Rodrigo figured it’d be more fun to go with someone else. But when Rodrigo told his friends about the trip — asking around to see if anyone fancied joining — no one was up for it. Friends either already had alternative summer plans or didn’t want to take the time off work.

On his lunch break one day, Rodrigo was talking about the dilemma to a close work friend, Paola.

She paused.

“Wait, I think I know the perfect person,” Rodrigo recalls Paola saying. “She’s used to traveling alone, she loves adventures…I can introduce you right now — she also works here.”

This “perfect person” was Irma Cáceres: a 29-year-old salesperson at the company who rarely turned down the opportunity to explore a new destination.

Paola marched Rodrigo across the office and made the introduction.

After the first hellos, Rodrigo told Irma about the vacation, and asked if she’d like to join.

Irma said yes right away.

Still, Rodrigo realized right away that he and Irma had a shared drive for adventure, and he was intrigued.

For Irma, that evident shared passion was what prompted her to accept the invite. Plus, she and Rodrigo had Paola in common, and Irma trusted Paola’s judgment.

Rodirgo and Irma met the next day for a preliminary chat about plans. Rodrigo explained that two of his siblings lived in Finland, and all his family were flying out for a few days, but he was hoping to tack on some extra European travel.

Irma was excited, but when she told her friends, many of them were concerned.

“Who is he? What are his intentions? Be careful,” she recalls them saying.

But her mother, whose opinion she valued most, relented from voicing an opinion until she’d seen a photo of Rodrigo.

Irma showed her mother Rodrigo’s Facebook profile photo.

“She just looked at it and she said: ‘You should go with him,'” Irma recalls today.

It was decided, Irma was going on vacation with a virtual stranger.

Vacation planning

Rodrigo and Irma worked at the same company, but they’d never crossed paths before.

Courtesy Rodrigo Leal

The two co-workers started meeting whenever they could to discuss travel plans.

“We were very work-centric at the office, so we did touch base for some 10 minutes at a time and then, back to work,” recalls Rodrigo.

While the interactions were brief, Rodrigo and Irma gradually realized they approached trip-planning in similar ways. They were keen to book flights and sort out key logistics ASAP but they were happy to leave other decisions, such as accommodation, until nearer the time.

And during discussions about rental cars and what cities to add to their itinerary, they both became aware of how much they were enjoying one another’s company.

A few months passed by and these conversations continued to solely take place at work, so Rodrigo decided to ask Irma if she would be up for meeting one evening.

“I’m busy, I’ve got many other commitments,” was Irma’s response.

Rodrigo took this answer to mean Irma wasn’t interested in the friendship turning into anything more, but Irma recalls being genuinely busy.

“I initially turned him down because I had previous engagements with my friends and family and didn’t want to change or cancel those plans,” she says today.

Two weeks before Rodrigo and Irma were due to embark on their trip, Rodrigo planned a house party. He’d invited all his friends, and many of his colleagues.

At the office, Irma heard rumblings about the gathering and realized she hadn’t been invited.

This was because Rodrigo wasn’t quite sure where they stood, and didn’t want to overstep a line, but Irma was confused.

The next time the two met to discuss the trip, she decided to ask him about the party directly.

“Am I invited to that as well?” she asked.

“Do you need two invitations? Or just one?” responded Rodrigo.

“[He was] indirectly asking me if I was going to attend with someone, which of course wasn’t the case,” says Irma today.

“Just one,” she recalls responding.

That Saturday, Irma was the first guest to arrive at Rodrigo’s gathering — “that’s something we both have in common, we always need to be on time,” she says today.

She helped him prepare set up for the evening, and they chatted as they emptied chips in bowls.

The other guests gradually arrived, settling in for an evening of card-playing and movie-watching. When the electricity suddenly went out, the partygoers used their cell phone torches to peer at one another through the dark.

Rodrigo and Irma say the connection between them was obvious that evening.

“The only thing that we needed for things to happen, for sparks to fly, was to meet outside of the office, because all the times we were meeting in a meeting room and in the hallways,” says Rodrigo.

“Lightning struck,” says Irma.

The next day, they arranged to meet again. Ostensibly, it was to confirm last-minute trip details. But they were both curious to see if their connection was still there in the light of the day.

It was.

And a few days later, Rodrigo formally asked Irma to be his girlfriend.

He’s old-fashioned like that, he says. Plus, he wanted to confirm where they were at before they headed abroad.

Delighted, Irma said yes.

“I felt very happy. I could not believe it. He was very romantic,” she recalls.

The two were heading to the airport in a few days. Their international trip was to be their first official date.

First stop: Paris

Irma and Rodrigo in Paris, the first stop on their European adventure.

Courtesy Rodrigo Leal

The first leg of their trip was flying from Mexico City to Paris for a couple days. Both Irma and Rodrigo recall feeling nervous as they headed to the airport.

Irma remembers realizing she’d forgotten to pack any pajamas, she had to grab some en route.

Meanwhile, they both recall a moment at the airport when Rodrigo commented on some fellow travelers speaking French, and how beautiful the language sounded — only for Irma to point out that these people were speaking English.

“He turned all red,” says Irma. “It was hilarious.”

But when their flight touched down in Paris, the couple relaxed.

“We took the subway to Place de la Concorde and from there started walking towards the Eiffel Tower,” recalls Rodrigo.

They ignored the jet lag and embraced the romance and beauty of the French capital, with detours to see Monet’s garden at Giverny and the palace of Versailles.

After Paris, the couple flew to London, rented a car, and embarked on a British road trip.

It was Rodrigo’s first time driving on the left side of the road, while Irma says she was the “copilot.”

“We managed to survive the road trip from London to Edinburgh without scratching the car. He only took three times to get out of a roundabout and didn’t get any tickets.”

En route to the Scottish capital Irma and Rodrigo stopped off at famous prehistoric landmark Stonehenge, as well as the English cities of Salisbury, Oxford, Nottingham — where Rodrigo had studied abroad — and York.

Their evening in the Scottish capital coincided with Rodrigo’s birthday, and the couple stayed up all night enjoying pints and celebrating.

Here they are in Stonehenge, one of the stops on the couple’s UK roadtrip.

Courtesy Rodrigo Leal

The next day, the two flew to Helsinki for Rodrigo’s family reunion.

After the fun of the past few days, their mutual nervousness returned.

When Rodrigo had told his family he was bringing a friend along, they were delighted, pleased he wouldn’t be traveling alone.

“But when I told them, ‘I’m going to go with my girlfriend,’ it was a whole different story,” says Rodrigo.

His loved ones were happy for him, he explains, but a bit skeptical about the situation.

Irma was also nervous about meeting Rodrigo’s loved ones, but her anxiety quickly dissipated when they arrived in Finland. Rodrigo’s family welcomed her with open arms.

If they had hesitations about the unusual travel arrangements, they didn’t share them.

“It was easy for me because Rodrigo was very kind, and his family’s very, very kind,” she says.

The group spent five days in Helsinki before boarding a ferry to Tallinn to explore the Estonian capital. It was great fun, Rodrigo says, and hanging out all together felt totally natural.

After saying their farewells to Rodrigo’s family in Finland, Rodrigo and Irma headed back to London. They’d arranged to meet Irma’s aunt and uncle, who happened to live there, at a restaurant overlooking the Thames and Tower Bridge.

“They put Rodrigo on the high chair and interrogated him about his intentions. He passed the test,” says Irma.

“It was our final night before going back to Paris the next day, early as usual, but that didn’t stop the Champagne from flowing,” adds Rodrigo.

From Paris, the couple returned home to Mexico. At the airport, Irma’s mother was waiting to pick the two up and drop them off at their respective homes.

But little did she know that Irma and Rodrigo had made an important decision while abroad — after two weeks spending every moment together, neither of them wanted to be apart.

“It was on the tram trip to the Helsinki airport after saying goodbye to the family and being alone again that we first started discussing living together,” recalls Rodrigo. “We both thought it was the way to go. We wanted to be together. Right there and then. It was the right choice.”

Irma’s mom was surprised, as were the rest of Irma’s family.

“They told me I was very crazy — I am,” says Irma, laughing.

But she adds that when her loved ones realized how determined she was — and how happy Rodrigo made her — they were happy for her in turn.

The couple photographed back in Mexico, exploring Tula.

Courtesy Rodrigo Leal

Still, the couple decided to keep their living arrangements on the down low.

“We drove to the office in separate cars. And only the closest family knew we were living together,” says Rodrigo. “We released the news to the world maybe a couple months later.”

Cue more shock, but also more celebration: the couple had also decided to get married.

After their globetrotting summer of adventures, Rodrigo kept the proposal more intimate. He planned a scavenger hunt in their home, culminating in Irma discovering the ring.

The couple don’t recall any major disagreements or difficult moments as they adjusted to life together — the only wobble was right before their wedding, at a stressful photo shoot.

“We were both very nervous, with a lot of pressure. And that almost led to a ‘Runaway Bride’ episode,” says Rodrigo. “But we both stuck in. We endured.”

In 2012, the two got married in Zacatecas City, Mexico. They recall a beautiful day, made only more special because of the unexpected rain.

“We were just very happy to have all the family and friends coming together,” says Rodrigo. “It was a very nice night, even though it was pouring cats and dogs.”

Among the attendees was Rodrigo and Irma’s mutual friend Paola, the co-worker who’d brought them together and suggested they travel together. The couple remain close to her today.

“I always tell her, ‘You are the guilty one for getting us together, because we are very, very happy,'” says Rodrigo, laughing.

Here are Irma and Rodrigo on their Honeymoon in Bora Bora, French Polynesia.

Courtesy Rodrigo Leal

After the wedding, the couple headed to the islands of French Polynesia for a dreamy honeymoon. Rodrigo and Irma then spent the next few years ticking off must-sees across Mexico, the US and Europe — from island-hopping in Greece to admiring the splendor of Lake Como in Italy.

In 2015, their first child was born, Sofía. She joined the couple on many of their subsequent adventures.

“Before Sofía was one year old, she was traveling almost every month on a plane,” says Rodrigo.

Two years later, the couple had a son, also called Rodrigo.

In 2013, Rodrigo and Irma went island-hopping in Greece.

Courtesy Rodrigo Leal

In 2019, Rodrigo and Irma returned to Finland with their young children in tow, a trip that included a stop-off at Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland.

“It was another amazing, amazing experience,” says Rodrigo.

Rodrigo and Irma’s passion for traveling underlines their relationship, but the couple also enjoy the quieter moments at home, something that’s been important this past year during the pandemic.

“We both love each other and love our kids. We have the same goals in common and we are always there for the other. We can talk about anything and nothing. We laugh a lot. We love to watch movies, corny Latin telenovelas, and strange series,” says Rodrigo.

“We complement each other. We are very alike but also very different, and we believe that’s a very important part of the recipe.”

‘It was destiny’

The couple started bringing their kids along on their adventures. Here are the family on vacation in 2019, in Bath, England.

Courtesy Rodrigo Leal

It was some years into their marriage before Rodrigo and Irma discovered they were both pictured in the same group photo from a colleague’s party, back in 2009.

In the photo, they’re on opposite ends of the group, completely unaware of each other.

While this coincidence suggests Irma and Rodrigo could have met even if they hadn’t gone traveling together — they did work in the same office, after all — they both credit their relationship, and subsequent years of happiness, to their willingness to vacation with someone who was essentially a stranger.

Now that they have kids, people often ask if they’d let their children do the same thing, and they both say no, partly kidding, partly genuinely horrified at the thought.

But they do think vacationing with a partner is a great way of figuring out if you’re really compatible.

“You eat, you sightsee, all together, all the time. It’s very different than just maybe dating,” says Rodrigo. “It really helped us to know each other. And well, that’s what we want for the rest of our lives.”

“I think it was destiny to be together,” says Irma. “I’m very, very happy to have met Rodrigo. We are a great couple and I’m in love with him.”

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(CNN) — June has arrived, and peak travel season would usually be around the corner. But 2021, like 2020, is a little different.

Come here to learn about the countries relaxing entry rules, the attractions reopening the doors and the places that have shuttered because of Covid-19 outbreaks.

Destinations opening up

The EU has a white list of countries from which nonessential travel into the bloc is approved: These are Israel, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Australia.

But while the bloc is trying to create more universal requirements for tourism, each country retains sovereign powers over its borders, so conditions of entry differ from country to country, as does timing.

France has just introduced a new color-coded “traffic light system” for when it opens to international travelers on June 9.

Those on the “green list” — vaccinated travelers from the European Union, Australia, South Korea, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand and Singapore — can enter restriction-free. Nonvaccinated travelers will need to do a Covid test.

Vaccinated travelers from the “orange list” — which includes the US and the UK — will need to do a test, while the unvaccinated will be allowed in only for essential purposes.

Indoor dining will be reintroduced on June 9, too, and the national curfew moved to 11 p.m. If you want to visit the Eiffel Tower, though, you’ll have to wait for its reopening on July 16.

Ireland, which has had one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, will reopen to the EU, UK and US on July 19. Non-EU unvaccinated travelers will have to arrive with a negative test, then self-quarantine until they take a second post-arrival test.

Irish hotels reopened this week, and indoor hospitality will resume on July 5.

Croatia is also welcoming vaccinated travelers, as well as those who present a negative PCR test or proof that they’ve recovered from Covid-19 within the past 180 days, and no less than 11 days before they arrive.

Last month, Cyprus reopened to vaccinated travelers from 65 countries, including the US and the UK.

Attractions, activities and accommodation

Yet another grand dame New York hotel has reopened its doors. The Ritz-Carlton New York Central Park — it puts the Ritz in ritzy — opened June 2.

The Peninsula Hotels chain is open for business in the US, with guests now being welcomed at its super-glam New York property as well as the luxury digs at The Peninsula Chicago and The Peninsula Beverly Hills.

Over in the The Happiest Place on Earth, there is plenty of Disney news.

Disneyland and California Adventure parks will start to welcome out-of-state guests on June 15. A few days later, Disney’s first hotel with Marvel Characters — Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel — will open June 21.

Covid escape plan of the week

Part of the untouched Marquesas Islands archipelago, it’s recently reopened to travelers — but you will have to do an eight-and-a-half-hour flight from San Francisco, followed by another four-hour flight, to get there.

Be sure to pack plenty of snacks.

CNN’s Marnie Hunter, Jane Levere, Elinda Labropoulou, Stephanie Takyi and Barbara Wojazer contributed to this report.

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(CNN) — If you’re struggling to know your PCRs from your CDCs from your PPEs, you’re not alone.

Come to these round-ups each week to learn about the countries relaxing entry rules, the attractions reopening the doors and the places that have shuttered because of Covid-19 outbreaks.

Explainers explained

Our travel elves have been working around the clock to put together explainers on all the latest twists and turns in travel guidance.

Cruise news

On board Celebrity Millennium, part of the Celebrity Cruises group.

Colleen McDaniel/Cruise Critic

The latest from Europe

Tourists walk toward the Erechtheion on the Acropolis hill in Athens on June 4.

Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

The EU has a white list of countries from which nonessential travel into the bloc is approved: Israel, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Japan and Australia.

While the European Union is trying to create more universal requirements for tourism, conditions of entry differ from country to country.

Spain opened to vaccinated travelers from outside the EU on June 7 while France opened in international travelers on June 9 (the same day as it resumed indoor dining and the national curfew moved to 11 p.m.)

Those on France’s “green list” — vaccinated travelers from the European Union, Australia, South Korea, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand and Singapore — can enter restriction-free. Nonvaccinated travelers will need to do a Covid test.

Vaccinated travelers from the “orange list” — which includes the US and the UK — will need to do a test, while the unvaccinated will be allowed in only for essential purposes. United Airlines will resume nonstop flights from Washington Dulles Airport to Paris Charles De Gaulle on July 1.

The island of Cyprus is open to vaccinated travelers from 65 countries, including the US and the UK.

Ireland, which has had one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, will reopen to the EU, UK and US on July 19. Non-EU unvaccinated travelers will have to arrive with a negative test, then self-quarantine until they take a second post-arrival test

The Netherlands is welcoming tourists from “safe countries with a low Covid-19 risk,” while Iceland, a member state of the European Economic Area, opened its borders to vaccinated travelers back in April.

Croatia is also welcoming vaccinated travelers, as well as those who present a negative PCR test or proof that they’ve recovered from Covid-19 within the past 180 days, and no less than 11 days before they arrive.

The Americas

The Macy’s July 4 Fireworks — pictured here in 2020 — will be open to in-person viewing this year.

Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

California is poised for its grand reopening of business on June 15, with masks becoming optional in many public settings — although restrictions vary between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Be sure to check ahead before traveling, as there will be plenty of caveats.

Middle East, Africa and Asia

Covid escape plan of the week

CNN’s Melissa Alonso, Julia Buckley, Alaa Elassar, Jamiel Lynch, Lilit Marcus and Nicky Robertson contributed to this report.

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(CNN) — A “slip of the tongue” by an air traffic controller at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport saw two planes come within 300 feet of crashing into each other last July, according to a report released Tuesday.

The incident on July 20, 2020, involved a United Airlines Boeing 787 arriving from Newark, New Jersey, and an EasyJet Airbus A320 preparing to take off en route to Malaga, Spain, according to the report from the French air safety investigation authority for civil aviation (BEA).

At the time, planes were taking off from the 09R runway and landing on 09L, according to the report, but the controller told the United Airlines plane to land on 09R.

The crew sought to confirm the change of runway using the words “understand” and “sidestep for 9 right,” according to the report.

However the controller did not check the readback from the crew and proceeded to tell the EasyJet plane to line up for takeoff from runway 09R.

At this point the United Airlines plane was still lined up to land on 09L so the crew started the maneuver, but when they checked again the plane was coming into land on their runway.

The EasyJet crew asked the controller why the United Airlines plane was coming down on 09R and warned of a potential collision.

At this point the plane was flying at an altitude of 300 feet, 1,300 meters from the end of the runway. Both the EasyJet crew and the controller told the United Airlines crew to ascend once more, and the pilots aborted their landing.

By the time the planes crossed paths they were separated by just 300 feet.

The controller did not have a direct line of sight to the 09 runways because the equipment that faces in their direction appeared to be broken and she was working at a different screen, according to the report.

At the time of the incident the screen facing towards the 09 runways had been fixed and the controller was preparing to switch, which she was “worried” about, according to the report.

She also told investigators she had been confused by a previous request from a different plane to land on runway 09R, which is longer than 09L, due to technical difficulties.

The BEA named a number of contributing factors to the incident, including the fact that the controller was out of practice due to reduced air traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Investigators also said that the United Airlines crew should have used the term “confirm” instead of the non-standard “understand.”

CNN has contacted Paris Charles de Gaulle airport for comment.

Correction: A previous version of this story contained the wrong date for the incident. It happened July 20, 2020.

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A bunker built by German troops in northern France during World War II has been restored and refitted as an underground guesthouse.

The northern coast is still strewn with fortifications left by the German army, which built up a so-called Atlantic Wall to try to fend off Allied Forces.

In Saint-Pabu, on the Breton coast, concrete bunkers are half-buried along the sandy beaches in an area that once operated as a radar station.

Serge Colliou bought up a plot of land around one of them and spent 18 months digging out and renovating the 400-square-meter (4,300 square feet) structure, turning it into rental for up to eight people, complete with bar and living room.

“We adapted (the bunker) while preserving a certain feel,” Colliou said.

“We wanted to give the building a second life, so we are not going to live in the past forever. We saved some aspects, you know where you are, there are historic cues, but this isn’t a museum either.”

War-time touches in Bunker L479 include helmets, reproduction guns and signs on the walls.

Both German and French guests have stayed there since it opened a year ago, Colliou said.

Some mayors have tried to remove bunkers and other remains from the coastline, in case there are a danger to swimmers.

Others in Saint-Nazaire, La Rochelle, Brest and other areas have taken steps to restore the historic sites.

“We are starting to preserve those famous bunkers and it is a good thing, but we cannot save them all,” said Herve Farrant, a bunker specialist and author who began to explore the structures in the 1980s.

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(CNN) — When travelers think of European high-speed rail travel, France’s iconic Trains a Grande Vitesse (TGV) or Germany’s elegant white ICE trains tend to come to mind.

Those who’ve visited Italy will no doubt have encountered Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) or the stunning scarlet trains of its strong competitor Italo.

But Europe’s longest network of high-speed railways is not in Italy, Germany or even in France.

That honor is held by Spain, where billions of euros have been invested into new railways radiating from Madrid over the last 30 years.

When compared with the lightning progress made by China, the construction of new high-speed railways in Spain has been comparatively glacial, a hostage to volatile national and regional politics, wildly ambitious targets and inconsistent decision making, especially after the 2008 global financial crisis.

However, new sections of railway are continuing to open thanks to significant support from the European Union as Spain works towards realizing the dream of providing fast links between Madrid and its regional capitals.

Ambitious plans

Spanish state operator Renfe’s l Avlo service transports passengers between Madrid and Barcelona in two and half hours.

Jesús Hellín/Europa Press/AP

Since the first route, between Madrid’s Atocha terminus and Seville, opened in 1992, the tentacles of this ambitious network have reached out to Malaga and Granada in the south, Valencia, Alicante and Barcelona on the east coast and Santiago de Compostela, Vigo and A Coruna in the far northwestern state of Galicia, scheduled to be completed in 2022.

High speed trains also run via the historic cities of Segovia and Valladolid to Leon, which is situated in the western region of the country, and will eventually extend to Asturias and the Basque cities of Vitoria, Bilbao and San Sebastian.

The construction of a “Y” shaped network linking the major conurbations of the autonomous Basque region began in 2006, but progress has been slow and the $6.8billion project is not slated to reach Bilbao until at least 2025.

Up until now, all domestic high-speed trains were operated by state-owned Renfe under its stylish AVE (Alta Velocidad Espana) brand.

AVE has even been successful in luring some business away from the airlines, although Madrid to Barcelona remains Europe’s busiest short-haul air route.

Aside from airplanes, rail also faces stiff competition in the form of express coaches and private cars — Spain’s fuel prices remain comparatively low by European standards and around four million car journeys were made between its two biggest cities in 2019.

“Madrid to Barcelona takes only two and a half hours by AVE, well under the three to four hours center-to-center where rail becomes as fast as flying, so I’d expect rail to dominate that market.

Stiff competition

French state operator SNCF’s Ouigo network has launched a high-speed rail service between Madrid and Barcelona.

Isabel Infantes/Europa Press/Getty Images

“However, Madrid to Barcelona AVE trains have typically been priced significantly higher than comparable high-speed services elsewhere and rail’s market share has not been as high as it should be.”

But change looks to be on the way, if the launch of two new low-cost,”‘no frills” high-speed rail operations in 2021 is anything to go by.

Approximately three return trips run between Madrid and Barcelona per day, with a fourth train pair extended to Girona and Figueres, which is positioned on the border with France.

While the 330-kilometer per hour purple trains have been modified internally with second class seating throughout, passengers can purchase additional features when booking, such as extra luggage, at-seat entertainment, seats with greater legroom and on-board catering.

Renfe now operates 20 trains in each direction between Madrid and Barcelona — a journey that takes just two hours and 30 minutes on non-stop trains.

The national rail operator currently offers around 16,000 seats daily on a combination of AVE and AVLO services and plans to add even more services as demand recovers after the pandemic.

Travelers to France will likely already be familiar with the Ouigo brand that provides low-cost, no-frills TGV services between major cities.

Using the same successful formula, along with at least 14 500-seat double-deck TGV trains seconded from its French parent, Ouigo Espana will initially run from Madrid to Valencia and Alicante.

Routes to Barcelona (in competition with AVLO and AVE), Seville and Malaga will be added in 2022 as part of a $700 million investment.

Single fares start from as little as €9. There are separate charges for things like additional luggage, more comfortable seats and refreshments.

“The liberalization of rail transport will increase the competition and attract more passengers to use this transport mode,” Pedro Saura Garcia, Spain’s transport minister, said at the launch of Ouigo Espana services in May.

Successful formula

The arrival of new low-cost services looks set to bring new energy to Spain’s high-speed rail network.

Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images

“This is crucial to decarbonize the transport sector and our economy and to combat climate change.”

His comments reflect the experiences of high-speed rail operators in Italy, where fierce competition between state-owned Trenitalia and Italo has doubled the rail market share since 2008 and helped to reduce ticket prices by 20 to 25%.

ILSA is a joint venture with airline Air Nostrum, which is expected to launch commercial operations on six routes in March 2022.

While Renfe and SNCF have modified existing trains for their new operations, Trenitalia is investing $943 million into 23 new Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed trains with 460 seats and a maximum speed of 360 kilometers per hour.

Operating 32 trips per day, the new trains will go head-to-head with existing AVE services from Madrid to Seville, Malaga, Granada, Valencia, Albacete/Alicante and Barcelona, providing passengers no fewer than four rail options between the capital and Catalonia.

“It’s early days, but the Spanish government’s plan to open the route up to competition appears to be paying off,” adds Smith.

“The new entrants have been well-received by travelers, with Ouigo reporting an average 90% load factor.

“Renfe has already had to lower fares to compete. I’m confident we’ll now see a repeat of the experience in Italy.”

The introduction of these new “open access” services should begin to address one of the major criticisms leveled at Spain’s high-speed rail program — the low frequency of trains on expensive new infrastructure.

Since AVE services launched in the 1990s, traffic density has generally been much lower than on similar lines in France, Germany and Italy, leading to claims that billions of euros have been wasted on “political” projects with little real value.

Indeed, at the extremities of the network, particularly in northwestern Spain, some new lines with spectacular, and very expensive, civil engineering currently have just a couple of trains a day.

“Spain has invested hugely in constructing a world-class high-speed network, but until very recently it hasn’t made good use of the system,” says Keith Barrow, editor of monthly rail magazine Today’s Railways Europe.

“On the three routes being opened for competition the government envisages increasing train capacity by up to 70% compared with summer 2019, offering a good indication of the latent capacity in the system.”

Progress has rarely been smooth. Back in the 19th century, the country’s mountainous terrain also proved to be a challenge for the early railway builders.

Expensive process

Low-cost carrier Ouigo will add new routes to Barcelona, Seville and Malaga in 2022.

Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images

Many lines were forced to take roundabout routes to avoid high mountain ranges and became notorious for their low speeds and long journey times.

Away from the most important inter-city routes, a lack of investment meant that vintage steam locomotives and wooden-bodied coaches lasted well into the 1960s.

That came in 1992, when Seville hosted the World’s Fair, Universal Exposition, for the first time.

Using proven French TGV technology, the railway slashed journey times to two hours and 20 minutes, with speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour.

However, the biggest development was the completion of the 621-kilometer high-speed rail from Madrid to Barcelona in 2008.

Not only did it provide much faster connections between the country’s two biggest city regions, it finally gave Renfe the opportunity to compete effectively with airlines on one of Europe’s busiest short-haul routes.

In addition, the development of new standard gauge high-speed lines in Spain gave the country another opportunity to link its network to France.

In 2012, the Madrid to Barcelona line was extended north via Girona and under the Pyrenees to Perpignan in southern France.

Today, Spanish AVE (Alta Velocidad Espana) trains and French TGVs connect Barcelona with Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon and Paris.

Although the trains currently use a mix of new and existing lines in France, new TGV lines are under construction that will complete an unbroken ribbon of steel between London, Brussels, Paris and the Costa del Sol.

Sadly, this link is not yet being used to its full potential.

“Despite being connected to the European standard gauge high-speed network, Iberia has a very poor service to the rest of the European Union,” explains Barrow.

“Track access charges on the Figueres to Perpignan line are exceptionally high — around $59 per kilometer for a 500-seat high-speed train — and as a result this key piece of international rail infrastructure is woefully underused.

“As a major international tourist destination Barcelona should be an obvious target for international high-speed operators, particularly with the liberalization of the high-speed rail market in France.”

Hopes for a new fast rail link between Madrid and the Portuguese capital of Lisbon have fluctuated with the prevailing political winds in these neighboring countries.

Overcoming setbacks

Ouigo’s first 10,000 return tickets went on sale for just €1 each.

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP via Getty Images

Although Spain will complete its high-speed line to the cross-border at Badajoz by 2030, Portugal canceled its section years ago, derailing plans for improved cross-border links between the Iberian capitals.

Back in 2008, Spain’s high-speed rail network advancement suffered even more setbacks when the global financial crisis hit the country hard.

Vigorous economic growth powered by EU support and a property bubble evaporated almost overnight and unemployment soared in the months and years that followed.

Plans to build thousands of kilometers of new railways seemed like hubris. Although some ongoing projects were eventually completed, others were paused or abandoned altogether as a succession of governments sought to stabilize the economy.

This political upheaval was reflected in the numerous changes and delays to plans for the program. Only in the last few years has development gained momentum once again, as the Spanish economy recovers.

There’s no project that symbolizes the difficulties involved in creating a national high-speed network in Spain more than the Variante de Pajares, located on the route between Madrid and Asturias.

Work on the 50-kilometer bypass, including a 25-kilometer base tunnel under the mountains of the Cordillera Cantabrica, began in 2004 and should have taken five years.

But seemingly endless issues caused by political and technical indecision (the plans for the base tunnels have been changed on at least 15 occasions) and inadequate geological surveys have caused costs to quadruple from $1.3 billion to around $4.7 billion.

By the time the commercial services begin to use the tunnel, possibly in 2022, the project will have taken almost 20 years to conclude.

As the long-planned new lines come to fruition, Spain may finally be able to achieve its goal of bringing its widely scattered regional centers within three hours of Madrid and reduce its reliance on short-hop flights.

Whether that proves to be a wise investment will depend on the ability of Renfe, Ouigo and ILSA — and possibly others — to run more trains and fill as many seats as possible in the coming years.

The post How no-frill trains are boosting Spain’s high speed rail network appeared first on TripALoud.

(CNN) — France has become the latest European country — and the most significant tourism destination — to remove the United States from its safe travel list, following EU recommendations in the wake of a US Covid spike.

Under France’s rules, unvaccinated travelers from either country will still be allowed in provided they have an essential reason for travel, however they’ll need a negative Covid-19 test before travel and must quarantine for seven days on arrival.

France’s move follow restrictions imposed on US travelers from several other European destinations. Earlier this week, Spain changed its entry policy for arrivals from the US, requiring them to have a certificate proving double vaccination.

Covid-battered economies

Italy last week began requiring all visitors, including those from the United States, to show proof of a PCR or antigen Covid test taken within 72 hours of travel, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.

Many European travel destinations reopened their borders to Americans earlier in the summer in the hope of attracting much needed tourism dollars to boost Covid-battered economies.

With Covid’s Delta variant spreading throughout the US, some countries, including Germany, had already begun restricting access to Americans prior to the EU recommendation. Others, such as Greece, insist they will remain open regardless of traveler vaccination status.

The post France bans unvaccinated Americans from entering appeared first on TripALoud.

The basics

What’s on offer

The historic boulevards of Paris, the fashionable sweep of La Croisette in Cannes and the rolling lavender fields and vineyards of Provence. France remains one of the world’s most enduring tourist destinations.

With superb food, even better wine and landscapes and cities to satisfy every kind of traveler, it never disappoints.

Who can go

As of July 18, fully vaccinated travelers from any country of departure can enter France without submitting a PCR test.

To be classed as fully vaccinated, travelers need to have had two doses of one of the four EU-approved vaccines, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. The second dose must have been administered at least two weeks prior to travel.

After initially declaring that travelers administered with Covishield, the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India, would not be considered as fully vaccinated, authorities have since announced that they will be recognizing this vaccine.

France had previously been implementing a traffic light system separating countries into categories, with different rules for those who were fully vaccinated and those who had not been vaccinated.

However, this system now only applies to non-vaccinated visitors, although travel from countries on France’s red list is advised against.

Non-vaccinated travelers from “green” countries are required to submit a negative Covid-19 PCR test result taken within 72 hours of departure.

Those traveling from Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Spain, the Netherlands or Portugal must provide a test taken less than 24 hours

Non-vaccinated travelers coming from destinations designated “amber” will have to provide a “compelling” reason for their visit, as well as submit a negative Covid-19 PCR test result taken less than 48 hours departure, or 24 hours for those from the UK. In addition, travelers must spend seven days in mandatory quarantine on arrival.

Those who’ve previously contracted Covid-19 can present a certificate of recovery dated more than 11 days and less than six months before the date of arrival instead of a negative test result.

The US and Israel will be added to this list on September 12, which effectively means that unvaccinated travelers from these countries will not be permitted to enter France without an “essential reason.”

The move came after the European Union recommended that Americans should be banned from nonessential travel to its member states due to an increase in Covid-19 cases in the US.

Non-vaccinated travelers on France’s “red” list can only enter if they have a valid reason, and are required to submit a negative Covid-19 PCR test result taken within 48 hours of departure and go into mandatory quarantine for seven days.

Any non-vaccinated travelers entering France must provide a sworn declaration indicating that they have no Covid symptoms and have not been in contact with anyone with a confirmed case of the virus within two weeks of their trip.

While France has not been charging foreign tourists from red list countries for PCR and antigen tests taken on arrival, authorities have announced that travelers will be required to pay for these tests from July 9.

The country has also introduced a health pass (“pass sanitaire”) that stores digital versions of users’ vaccination certificates, proof of a negative PCR or antigen test taken in the past 48 hours, or evidence of having recently recovered from Covid (provided they’ve tested positive more than two weeks ago and less than six months ago).

The pass, which can be accessed via the French Covid-tracker app TousAntiCovid or as a QR code, was approved for use for summer travel from July 1.

Paper versions of the documents will still be accepted, along with photo identification.

What are the restrictions?

As stated above, a traffic light system is now in place for non-vaccinated travelers, with different rules depending on whether the country they’re traveling from has been designated green, amber or red.

The US will be added to the amber list on September 12, which means that unvaccinated American will not be permitted to enter France without an essential reason.

The list of compelling reasons certain travelers must declare before they are allowed to enter now includes further family situations, so that couples and parents split between France and another country can travel to visit each other and/or their children.

What’s the Covid situation?

France has been one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, with over seven million cases and 116,508 deaths as of September 17.

Cases were soaring earlier in the year, with 117,900 new cases reported on April 11 alone. Although the number dropped considerably lower in the following weeks, with 2,664 new cases being tallied on July 2, they have since begun to rise again. On August 17, the country registered over 100 deaths from Covid-19 for the first time since June.

More than 92 million vaccination doses have been administered in the country as of September 17, with over 64% of the population fully vaccinated.

What can visitors expect?

President Macron has been cautiously easing restrictions in the country after going into lockdown for a third time, and many measures have already been lifted.

Domestic travel restrictions were lifted on May 3, meaning residents are permitted to travel within the country again, and the national curfew has been lifted.

Elementary schools and nurseries were reopened on April 26 after being closed for three weeks, while high school students returned to indoor classes on May 3.

Restaurants, cafes and open-air terraces reopened for outdoor service on May 19, with a maximum of six people per table, and nonessential shops have also opened their doors again.

Spectators are allowed back into arenas, and museums, monuments, theaters, auditoriums with seated audiences can reopen with a maximum capacity of 800 people indoors and 1,000 outdoors.

Gyms reopened on June 9, while indoor dining has resumed at restaurants and cafes, with establishments operating at 50% capacity indoors. Nightclubs are allowed to reopen from July 9. The Eiffel Tower has also reopened for the first time in nine months.

On July 26, French parliament approved a bill that will make it a legal requirement for residents to use the health pass, which stores proof of vaccination, negative PCR tests or evidence that the user has recently recovered from Covid-19, in order to access cafe terraces, restaurants, cinemas, theaters and other culture and leisure activities, as well as trains and airplanes.

The new law, which has sparked protests in the country, only applies to adults at present, but is to be extended to include all those under 12 from September 30.

Rules around mask-wearing while outdoors are also being eased. As of June 20, masks are only mandatory outside in crowded places such as markets and stadiums. However, masks are still required while in public spaces indoors and on public transport.

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Joe Minihane, Julia Buckley and Tamara Hardingham-Gill contributed to this report

The post Traveling to France during Covid-19: What you need to know before you go appeared first on TripALoud.