Spanish hotspots record zero beta variant infections

Tourists in the country set to escape quarantine as MPS hope to avoid placing it on amber watch list

BRITISH holidaymakers in Spain are set to escape quarantine next week after ministers received data showing there are no cases of the beta variant in the country’s main tourist areas.

The analysis, seen by The Daily Telegraph, shows that there is zero per cent of the strain in the Balearics – Britons’ most popular destination – and no evidence of it in a huge expanse of the south, from Seville in the west to Granada on the southern coast and Malaga and Murcia in the east.

The variant, which originated in South Africa, is instead concentrated in one region in the north-west, although even there it has fallen to below 10 per cent of cases sequenced as the delta variant – the dominant strain in the UK – squeezes out all the others.

Overall in Spain, the beta variant has fallen to 2.9 per cent of Covid cases, down from nine per cent.

Spain’s daily infection rate has dropped from 27,000 cases to 25,000 in the past week after the government introduced a series of “soft” restrictions to stem the spread of virus including vaccine and test “passports” for entry to nightclubs and night-time curfews.

There had been fears that Spain, whose rate of 700 cases per 100,000 of the population has risen seven-fold since late June, could be put on an amber-plus list similar to France, which would require Britons to quarantine at home for 10 days on returning to the UK.

Ministers, however, believe the new data, from Spain’s Centre for Health Emergencies and Gridpoint Consulting, should squash such a move – and they may also be able to avoid having to put it on an amber watch list, a move signalling that it could switch imminently to red. The logistics of a transfer to the red list – which would force hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers to quarantine in hotels on their return at a cost of £1,750 per person – would prove virtually impossible to manage, say industry experts.

Flight bookings to Britain from the US have doubled after ministers announced the lifting of quarantine restrictions, raising hopes of a tourism boom. Bookings from New York to London have increased by almost 250 per cent week-on-week, according to Virgin Atlantic, which said its overall bookings were up by just over 100 per cent in the same timeframe.

“We now urge the UK Government to go further and move the US to the UK’S green list and for the Biden administration to repeal the 212F proclamation for UK travellers,” said Juha Jarvinen, the airline’s chief commercial officer.

British tourists will need to quarantine in Italy for at least another month, the country’s health minister said yesterday. Anyone entering Italy from the UK will have to show a negative Covid test result, self-isolate for five days, and take another swab test at the end of the isolation period, until at least Aug 30.