Decision time--Travel to Spain/France in September 2021 or not?

Those questions are of course "unanswerable", no one knows what the future holds and if one thing has this pandemic taught us is that when you're almost certain you're out of the woods... you are not.

Here in Catalonia, we 'seemed' to be out of the woods a month ago. That is to say the pandemic was sort of controlled and the occupancy in hospitals for COVID was relatively low. Right now it's increasing again. If anything, death-related cases for COVID are very low now because most of those infected are under 40, and most especially under 30. That's precisely the band we're now vaccinating over here and the vast majority of those admitted to hospital (+80%) are precisely those not yet vaccinated. I guess this tells something important, doesn't it? For info, some 55% of the population is already fully vaccinated in Catalonia.

Anyway... we have reintroduced some measures to reduce transmission -you can follow the latest in this site of the Government of Catalonia: https://web.gencat.cat/en/activem/restriccions-territorials/catalunya/ - and it's expected by the end of August the spike that started in late June will be under control(ish).

In the meantime, life goes on for the majority of people, meaning that people go to work, those on holiday go out to the coast, to the mountain, to restaurants, to cinemas, to the beach... yet respecting those measures (or should do so!) such as mask-wearing, social distance, mingling in small stable groups, curfew in some cities and towns from midnight to 6 am, restaurants closing at midnight, no night clubs or concerts, etc. Unless you're a "party animal", and it doesn't strike me you are, you're hardly going to notice many of those restrictions.

If anything, traditional annual heritage street festivals ("festa major"), which are a major cultural attraction to locals and many visitors alike, are not happening for now and are unlikely they will for some time. That might include the upcoming Festa Major de Gràcia in August and La Mercè in September, both in Barcelona. They haven't yet been officially cancelled though, they're in stand-by for now.

That's where we are now, boots on the ground. On the positive side for you: fewer tourists so fewer crowds :))

Btw, if you're going to be going in and out of France note that their measures for foreign visitors, even from within the EU, have been toughened and they require tests (PCR, antigens...) to be presented upon entrance to their territory.

Enjoy!

As a note of interest France does not require all visitors to show a negative covid test. If you are coming directly from the US you can just show the vaccination record as of today. However, it does appear that you would have to show a negative PCR test to go from Spain to France but nothing is required going the other way.

I am in the exact same position on my trip except I don't fear a "resurgence of covid" as being an issue (It's resurging here too so it's not like "if we stay home there's no risk of anything" LOL

Right now it appears things are open. And of course you have chosen to travel during the end of "French vacation period" which means places are motivated to remain open for local tourists.

Personally considering your trip seems to mainly focus on less populated cities I'd go for it, but...

@Enric @ Matt My hubby and I are in the same boat as Matt. We have a self guided bike tour rescheduled from 2020 starting early October. We fly into Barcelona and transfer same day to Tossa Del Mar to start our tour in Costa Brava. We will be outside riding our tandem on smaller roads in smaller towns, ending in Girona. At the end of the bike tour, we have 3 nights in Barcelona before returning home.

Been watching the cases in Spain in general and Catalonia rise. We are waiting for the Spanish partner of the American tour company to let us know if we can do the tour. I'm not sure it is wise to travel right now, or even in 2 months before we leave the US. Of course we are fully vaccinated, but this Delta variant is nothing to "sneeze" at.

We have friends who are in France at this moment on a guided bike tour, so they risk a bit more traveling in a group.. our trip is just my hubby and I on our bike. Of course we will have interaction at hotels and restaurants, but I'm sure everything is mitigated for the spread. (no party animals here, dinner and bed for us after a day on the bike !)

Just waiting to hear from our tour company if we can/should go or try again in 2022. Things were looking pretty good just a few short weeks ago, now it's in the back of my head to not chance it. Add the hassle of having to get tested before returning home..the mask wearing isn't a big deal, since we did a year wearing a mask everywhere.

Rebooked places for the whole trip (but being careful this time to make sure all the new bookings were fully refundable, but some require cancellation 1 month in advance to obtain full refund)... So, in about 2 weeks we approach the 1 month window on the trip.

Which ones require cancellation 1 month in advance? Perhaps you could abridge your trip somewhat, cancel those ones in two weeks time (if things are looking worse), and just keep the places that have a more flexible cancelation policy. For 2021 travels, I would recommend you think of an "appetizer" to just visit one or two regions, with 1-2 cities in each as a home base from which to make local daytrips, rather than a complex month-long multi-country itinerary.

Perhaps just focus on only Spain OR France this time around, as to mitigate complications and stress. For example you could combine Aragon and Catalonia regions and shorten your stay to around 20ish days, with daytrips to the nearby Pyrenees, like the Aiguas Tortas y Lago de San Mauricio National Park.

I'm thinking along the same lines as Carlos. If you cancel what's cancelable, aren't the odds good that you'll be able to resurrect those reservations--or equivalent ones--shortly before arrival in each town? You could keep open the possibility of crossing into France and see what things look like at the time. If border crossing looks dicey, you can have a great all-Spain trip. I'm assuming you haven't fully covered northern Spain on earlier trips.

acraven's advice is spot on, I think that would be the best way of dealing with the future uncertainty of things.