Europe splits over holiday ban on Brits

Merkel and Macron plan harsh rules – but Greece and Spain will shun them

GERMANY and France faced a growing rebellion last night over their bid to lock British holidaymakers out of Europe after Greece and Spain vowed to ignore tougher measures.

Angela Merkel, backed by French president Emmanuel Macron, used a summit in Brussels to lobby for a bloc-wide crackdown on British tourists.

She wants other European countries to impose a 14-day quarantine on all British arrivals to the Continent because of fears over the spread of the Indian, or Delta, virus variant. But Mrs Merkel was hit with a backlash from tourism-dependent economies.

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued a stinging rebuke, telling the German Chancellor to concentrate on accelerating the vaccine rollout rather than plotting draconian new rules.

At a post-summit news conference yesterday, Mr Mitsotakis said: ‘We should not adopt a logic of new restrictions, but on the contrary accelerate the vaccinations.

‘Those who have been vaccinated are protected, those who have not been vaccinated are in danger.’

Spain has also pushed back against the Franco-German plot, but could start demanding proof of a negative test from all arriving Britons. As it stands, all Britons can enter for holidays without needing to present a test.

A Balearic Islands government official said: ‘We have fought a long time for the British to come.’

On Thursday Spain’s tourism minister, Maria Reyes Maroto, revealed a split was emerging among EU nations over the issue, saying: ‘Hopefully we can begin to receive British tourists soon.

‘We don’t have any restrictions on tourists from the UK at the moment. They’re placing restrictions on people when they return.’

The UK is expected to be declared a ‘variant area of concern’ at a meeting of EU diplomats and officials on Monday. It comes amid growing fears on the Continent about the more infectious Delta variant, now dominant in the UK and Portugal and gaining a hold across the bloc.

Due to the EU’s lower vaccination rates, they are worried that a large number of its citizens may still be vulnerable.

It means Britain could be added to a travel ‘black list’ aimed at encouraging member countries to bring in tougher travel curbs.

Germany and France are expected to move on Monday by tabling binding travel restrictions for people from areas where the Delta variant is prevalent.

But countries that rely on tourism are expected to stage a rebellion in order to allow enough Britons

in to keep their beleaguered travel industries afloat.

Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal are expected to be the strongest opponents against overly draconian measures.

Germany requires even fully vaccinated Britons to quarantine on arrival. Mrs Merkel said that due to lower vaccination rates in the bloc as a result of its faltering start to its jab programme, European countries must explore new curbs.

She said: ‘In Great Britain and Israel, who are further ahead with the vaccination, we can see strongly increasing incidence rates

‘Continue to be careful’

and we also see that hospitalisations apparently increase with this variant. Therefore I can only continue to make a case to continue to be careful.’

Mr Macron said EU states must ‘stay vigilant’ and ‘harmonise our rules on the matter of opening to third countries’ like the UK. Britain is classified as a ‘third country’ following Brexit.

In a thinly veiled jibe, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Germany doesn’t have the same levels of vaccinations as has happened in this country, so they’ll be particularly concerned.’

Boris Johnson will meet Mrs Merkel at Chequers next Friday. They are likely to discuss the issue of Britons travelling in Europe.