Scotland retains quarantine restriction for Spain

TOURISTS travelling to Scotland from Spain will have to continue to quarantine, Nicola Sturgeon said as she rejected some countries on the UK government's list of air bridges.

Speaking at her daily briefing on the virus, the Scottish First Minister said the 14-day quarantine restriction will be lifted on July 10 for people returning or visiting from 39 countries with a low prevalence of Covid-19, including Germany, Norway and Malta.

Other countries which have a lower or not significantly higher prevalence of the virus than Scotland - including France, Greece, the Netherlands, Italy and Poland - will also be included on the list.

But she said the restriction will not be lifted for Spain or Serbia saying it had been a "difficult decision" driven by the evidence.

"I know how many people from Scotland enjoy travelling to Spain and I know how much we love welcoming Spanish tourists," she said. "My hope is these restrictions can be relaxed soon, and possibly very soon."

While Spain is not currently on the approved list, the First Minister said that will be kept under regular review to see if cases of the virus there decrease enough.

She also said that if necessary data becomes available, the Scottish government would consider accepting people travelling from Spanish islands such as the Canaries or Ibiza.

She said there will not be "a way around" the quarantine rules by flying into English airports, because Scottish health officials will have the details of those who are travelling back into the UK.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport welcomed clarity on an issue he said had "dragged on far too long".

But he added: "However it does still pose some serious questions and threats to the industry with the exclusion of Spain. This is one of Scotland's biggest and most important destinations for inward and outward tourism, and that impacts on airline decisions about where to base their fleet. We hope to see this resolved quickly."