Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Jolly olé days
Spain ban on unjabbed could end next week
UNJABBED Britons could get the go-ahead to fly to Spain “within days”, as officials seek to lift the ban on those without Covid passports.
Holidaymakers will only need to show proof of a negative Covid test, the country’s tourism minister said.
It came as the UK cut its Covid alert level from four to three yesterday as the Omicron wave subsides.
The ban on unvaccinated Britons had been expected to stay until June 15 when it was due for review. But Maria Reyes Maroto raised hopes it could end as early as next week.
She said: “It’s going to be a matter of days before we eliminate a restriction that could be discouraging tourists from outside the EU.
“We’re going to stop demanding the
Covid certificate and allow people to enter with a negative Covid test.” Bookings are expected to soar once an end date for the ban is confirmed. In the first three months this year Spain welcomed 1.76 million from the UK.
The mandatory use of face masks in public indoor areas was lifted there last month, along with an end to other Covid restrictions such as limited opening hours.
Mrs Reyes Maroto, 48, added: “The world sees us as a safe destination and 92% of the Spanish population is vaccinated.
Tourism is recovering here at rates difficult to imagine in January. Tourism is the lever for economic growth this year.”
Covid infections in the UK have fallen to their lowest level in five months.
Some 1.3 million people in private households are estimated to have had the virus in the week to May 13, Office for National Statistics figures show – down 14% from 1.5 million the previous week. It follows drops of 24% and 32% in the two previous weeks.
Total UK infections are back to levels last seen in early December as Omicron began its surge. That prompted the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to say: “Based on advice from the UK Health Security Agency, we and the NHS England medical director have recommended the Covid alert level should move from level four to level three.”
The level was raised on December 12 as Omicron spread rapidly. Infections are now roughly a quarter what they were at the peak of the recent Omicron BA.2 wave, when a record 4.9 million people were estimated to have Covid.
The number of patients with Covid in hospital has also fallen to its lowest level since last autumn. A total of 6,879 were in hospital as of May 18, down 23% week on week, Government data shows.