Catalan Covid certificate validation system's failure to read passes issued in Sweden resolved

The Catalan Covid certificate validation system, which is used to grant patrons access to nightclubs, was unable to read at least some of the passes issued in Sweden for at least three weeks.

Catalan News was able to confirm that some Swedish EU vaccination, recovery or test certificates were not recognized by the verificacovid.gencat.cat app used to validate passports by scanning their QR code – yet, as of October 27, the system was already working.

The Swedish embassy in Spain told Catalan News that "several" people had complained to them about the issue. "We also tried it among our employees and none of the certificates are recognized by the Catalan verification system," sources from the diplomatic institution said before the bug was resolved.

The consulate in Barcelona reported the issue to the Catalan authorities, embassy officials said, who also admitted they were unsure whether all Swedish Covid passports were unable to be read or just some of them.

This issue only affected Swedish Covid certificate holders who tried to enter nightclubs and similar facilities – the only venues where they are currently required for entry.  

No problems to travel or enter Spain have been reported. The certificate is still required when entering the country from Sweden.

On Wednesday, Swedish embassy officials confirmed that the system was functioning and added that the Catalan authorities had sorted it out "pretty quickly."