Are holidays to Portugal in doubt?
THE prospect of going to Portugal this month was thrown into doubt last night as the country’s government held crunch talks on Covid restrictions.
Portugal had been expected to lift its ban on European tourists entering – including UK holidaymakers – from this Sunday.
But there was confusion last night amid reports the ban could be extended to May 30. It would mean Britons with holidays booked there next week – to coincide with the UK’s own travel ban being lifted on Monday – face having them cancelled.
It would also block thousands of football fans who have booked tickets for the Champions League final in Porto on May 29. The match had previously been due to be held in Istanbul but was moved following talks between UK ministers and UEFA organisers after Turkey was added to England’s travel red list.
The final is between Chelsea and Manchester City and around 6,000 fans from each club planned to attend.
However, officials in Lisbon suggested the Portuguese cabinet talks about Covid were about extending the country’s ‘state of calamity’ and would not change the lifting of the travel ban. They said it related to its ability to introduce emergency Covid legislation and would not include tourism, which they said was still expected to be given the green light from Sunday. A formal announcement clarifying the situation is expected today.
It came as the BBC reported that the Portuguese government will require UK football fans to fly in and out of the country on the day of the match. Fans will also have to stay in a ‘bubble’ while in the city.
The country’s cabinet affairs minister, Mariana Vieira da Silva, said: ‘They will be moved to the stadium and from the stadium to the airport, being in Portugal less than 24 hours.’