Greece reopens for vaccinated while Britons still grounded

GREECE will open its borders to visitors vaccinated against Covid-19 or who have tested negative from next week, in a promising sign for British tourists hoping to book a holiday.

Non-essential international travel from Britain is banned until May 17 at the earliest and whether tourists have to quarantine upon return will depend on how Greece is classified under the traffic light system early next month.

The Government has said Britons should not book holidays yet because of the uncertainty over which countries will be listed as green, amber or red.

Current regulations state that all foreigners arriving in Greece have to show negative tests and then quarantine for seven days. But the Greece plans to lift quarantine restrictions for travellers from the UK, EU, US, Israel, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates.

A tourism ministry official said: “We will gradually lift the restrictions at the beginning of next week ahead of the opening on May 14.”

Visitors will be allowed to fly to Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Chania, Rhodes, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu. They will not have to quarantine if they prove that they have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine or show a negative PCR test carried out less than 72 hours before arrival.

They will, however, be subject to local lockdown rules – a resurgence in cases over the winter means Greece has been under restrictions for months.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, has strongly pushed the idea of Covid certificates as a way of kickstarting international travel.

Malta is holding talks with the UK about a digital coronavirus certificate that would allow British tourists to visit.