VIRUS BRINGS NEW HOLIDAY MISERY
Spain now added to 14-day quarantine list after spike
THOUSANDS of British holidaymakers in Spain will have to quarantine for two weeks when they return home under a new travel clampdown.
The shake-up, due to come into force at midnight last night, has thrown travel plans into chaos and means many people preparing to jet off to Spain may now have to cancel their trip.
The move to drop the country from the
Government’s “travel corridor” list came after a steep rise in coronavirus cases in the hard-hit country and a series of frantic local lockdowns.
It means travellers arriving in England, Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland from Spain will need to self-isolate.
The Foreign Office is now advising against all but essential travel to mainland Spain.the advice does not cover the Canary Islands or Balearics as infection rates are lower there, though people holidaying on those islands will still need to self-isolate when they return.
It comes after the Spanish authorities reported more than 900 new daily infections for the past two days. Authorities are warning the country that initially lost 28,000 lives may be facing a second wave.
It had been one of more than 70 countries and territories included in England’s travel corridors list, meaning people could travel there without needing to quarantine afterwards.
However, as Spanish virus cases have soared, local lockdowns have become more frequent while officials struggle to keep a lid on the epidemic.
Last night British travellers were shocked by the health experts’ move. Neil Hunter, 45, from Sittingbourne, in Kent, had booked a 10-day family break to Lanzarote, leaving ontuesday.
He said: “I’m now unsure what’s going to happen. I work as a train driver and I don’t think my employer will accept me having to isolate due to going on holiday.”
He said he understood why the decision had been taken but that it “is a lot of money and disappointing all the same”. Signs from Spain over the past week suggested the country was being hit by a second wave. Some people criticised the timing of last night’s decision.
Rory Boland, a Which? travel editor, said: “Why on earth was this decision not taken 48 hours ago when it was clear there was a problem with Spain and before tens of thousands of holidaymakers flew out on Friday as the summer hols started?”
However Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancythe Pcagency, said: “It makes sense that if cases continue to rise in Spain, it should fall off the list.this is the equivalent of implementing a local lockdown. The problem is we are heading into peak holiday season.”
A Government spokesman said: “The Joint Biosecurity Centre together with Public Health England have updated their assessments of Spain based on the latest data.
“Protecting public health is our absolute priority and we have taken this decision to limit any potential spread to the UK.
“We’ve always been clear we would act immediately to remove a country where necessary. Our list of quarantine exemptions and the FCO travel advice are being updated.”
In Spain, Catalonia became the latest region to crack down on nightlife.
The wealthy north-east region, including Barcelona, ordered all nightclubs to close for 15 days and put a midnight curfew on bars in the Barcelona area and other nearby towns.
It follows the clampdown in Magaluf, Majorca, where authorities closed down the main party strip for two months.
Meanwhile, King Felipevi and Queen Letizia are touring cities around the hard-hit country and yesterday wore face masks at a mass in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia.
‘We must limit’ any spread’