Spain risks losing ‘safe’ status after cases soar
SPAIN could be taken off the “safe” travel list within days after more than 4,800 new cases of coronavirus this week took the total to 264,836.
There were 224 active outbreaks, sparking fears of a second Covid-19 wave and putting thousands of holiday plans at risk.
Whitehall sources say the whole country or specific regions could be on the brink of being removed from the Government’s list of 59 quarantine-exempt nations.
Spain’s health minister Salvador Illa linked some of the new cases to seasonal fruit picking, socialising between family and friends and discos and bars where social distancing had been ignored.
In Catalonia up to 96,000 residents have been advised to stay at home, after people in Barcelona were told to go out only for essential trips.
Regional health minister Alba Verges said: “There is a lot of transmission and it has grown very rapidly so we had to take action.”
The Balearic Islands have registered four new outbreaks in
Quarantined
the past week – two in Majorca, one in Menorca and one in Formentera.
Regional health minister Patricia Gomez has described them as “small and controlled.”
In Lanzarote a British holidaymaker was quarantined after testing positive for Covid-19 following her arrival. Tests on nine other people with whom she mixed were negative.
Local authorities have emergency powers to close beaches and impose curfews.
Meanwhile Mediterranean holidays are being sold for under £100 per person as travel firms offer incredible bargains to tempt Britons back abroad.
Bargain breaks include travelsupermarket.com’s £97 week-long self-catering deal to the two-star Miami Sea View Apartments in Kavos on the Greek island of Corfu in mid-September.
Emma Coulthurst from the company said: “These prices for peak season have pretty much never been seen before. Even 25 years ago you would have struggled to find a holiday in the summer at this low a price.
“And due to demand being low the likelihood is that you will find hotels and resorts at much reduced capacity and have them much more to yourself.”
More than 28,000 people have died from the virus in Spain.