Coronavirus Emergency and Medical Issues
There are currently not covid related restrictions for traveling to the Basque Country. In any case, we want to reassure all participants that we always act with our team's safety in mind.
First, we want to stress that you can have the confidence that we at Aditu Arkeologia have your health and safety as our paramount interest, and we would never ask you to do something dangerous or that would represent a risk to your health.
Also, we already have the experience of past seasons, where we ran the Field School successfully. We set up a series of measures in place to make sure that we prevented any risks to the team. Hydroalcoholic gels, face masks and strict access protocols made it that our sessions ran successfully.
We expect a normal campaign for the year 2025, but if anything were to happen, we will react to provide enough protection to all participants.
If Aditu Arkeologia cancels the excavation for any reason, all participants will be refunded fully (fees and deposit). If a participant is seriously ill (which includes covid or any other serious medical condition) it is our policy to also refund fully a participant's fees where a medical certification proving their condition is provided.
There are several things you should have into consideration:
Our policy with governmental travel advisories, such as those issued by the US, is that we refund full fees if a participant decides not to join us due to a Level 4 travel advisory strongly advising not to travel to the Basque Country (Spain). Have in mind that a travel advisory is not a law, so there is no official ban or restriction on traveling to a country even with a Level 4 travel advisory. A person should exercise judgement on where specifically in a country with an advisory the person is going, as well as the activities intended or the purpose for traveling there. So a travel adivsory has to be taken with understanding, and even if we reach the moment when there is a recommendation not to travel but the excavation is still running as we assess that there is no risk for participants, those that want to join us are welcome to do so, although we will honour a refund if someone chooses not to come due to compliance with the travel advisory.
Our activity is not exposed to crowds, as participants are not traveling to visit tourist destinations and their exposure to other people and environment outside the excavation and research is limited to personal decisions. We are a self contained team, staying together in the site in our own accommodation.
For as long as it is not government required, we do not require prior medical tests from participants for a clean bill of health, but obviously we expect participants to disclose if they have any medical condition that can be detrimental to the research programme.
The Spanish Basque Country medical care is free and universal and the national health system consistently ranks in the world's top 10 (as a comparison for you to see its quality, the US medical system ranks 37 in the WHO rankings). EU citizens should bring the EU Medical Card, and citizens of non-EU countries are required to bring medical insurance to the Field School.
Staff and participants have always been a close-knit group, and all participants have to rest assured that we will look for their well being and help them beyond simple obligation if the case arises. Nobody should be concerned or cancel their participation out of fear. We enjoy what we do, providing opportunities to students and professionals to improve their career, and we are proud of having done that through past crisis and personal problems that we have helped participants to overcome. We plan to continue doing this with everyone that gets involved with our projects.
Our work in an ossuary and burial ground obviously requires high personal hygiene, and the rules we have in place to work with safety, such as using work gloves, washing hands frequently with water and soap, etc. do contribute to minimise any kind of viral or bacterial disease.
We hope this helps to give you some peace of mind and to go ahead with your plans if that is your idea. Rest assured we will come back to this issue if we consider it necessary but do contact us if you have any additional doubts or questions.
We look forward to working with you and having a great season in 2025.
Regards and health,
Fran Valle de Tarazaga & Emma Bonthorne
Directors
First, we want to stress that you can have the confidence that we at Aditu Arkeologia have your health and safety as our paramount interest, and we would never ask you to do something dangerous or that would represent a risk to your health.
Also, we already have the experience of past seasons, where we ran the Field School successfully. We set up a series of measures in place to make sure that we prevented any risks to the team. Hydroalcoholic gels, face masks and strict access protocols made it that our sessions ran successfully.
We expect a normal campaign for the year 2025, but if anything were to happen, we will react to provide enough protection to all participants.
If Aditu Arkeologia cancels the excavation for any reason, all participants will be refunded fully (fees and deposit). If a participant is seriously ill (which includes covid or any other serious medical condition) it is our policy to also refund fully a participant's fees where a medical certification proving their condition is provided.
There are several things you should have into consideration:
Our policy with governmental travel advisories, such as those issued by the US, is that we refund full fees if a participant decides not to join us due to a Level 4 travel advisory strongly advising not to travel to the Basque Country (Spain). Have in mind that a travel advisory is not a law, so there is no official ban or restriction on traveling to a country even with a Level 4 travel advisory. A person should exercise judgement on where specifically in a country with an advisory the person is going, as well as the activities intended or the purpose for traveling there. So a travel adivsory has to be taken with understanding, and even if we reach the moment when there is a recommendation not to travel but the excavation is still running as we assess that there is no risk for participants, those that want to join us are welcome to do so, although we will honour a refund if someone chooses not to come due to compliance with the travel advisory.
Our activity is not exposed to crowds, as participants are not traveling to visit tourist destinations and their exposure to other people and environment outside the excavation and research is limited to personal decisions. We are a self contained team, staying together in the site in our own accommodation.
For as long as it is not government required, we do not require prior medical tests from participants for a clean bill of health, but obviously we expect participants to disclose if they have any medical condition that can be detrimental to the research programme.
The Spanish Basque Country medical care is free and universal and the national health system consistently ranks in the world's top 10 (as a comparison for you to see its quality, the US medical system ranks 37 in the WHO rankings). EU citizens should bring the EU Medical Card, and citizens of non-EU countries are required to bring medical insurance to the Field School.
Staff and participants have always been a close-knit group, and all participants have to rest assured that we will look for their well being and help them beyond simple obligation if the case arises. Nobody should be concerned or cancel their participation out of fear. We enjoy what we do, providing opportunities to students and professionals to improve their career, and we are proud of having done that through past crisis and personal problems that we have helped participants to overcome. We plan to continue doing this with everyone that gets involved with our projects.
Our work in an ossuary and burial ground obviously requires high personal hygiene, and the rules we have in place to work with safety, such as using work gloves, washing hands frequently with water and soap, etc. do contribute to minimise any kind of viral or bacterial disease.
We hope this helps to give you some peace of mind and to go ahead with your plans if that is your idea. Rest assured we will come back to this issue if we consider it necessary but do contact us if you have any additional doubts or questions.
We look forward to working with you and having a great season in 2025.
Regards and health,
Fran Valle de Tarazaga & Emma Bonthorne
Directors
