Spain to let in unvaccinated travellers in a ‘matter of days’

HOLIDAYMAKERS got a half-term boost yesterday as Spain said it would soon drop its ban on unvaccinated travellers.

Spain’s tourism minister María Reyes Maroto said it would be a “matter of days” before relaxed rules would allow unvaccinated Britons into the country with a negative Covid test.

It had been thought the ban would remain in place until at least June 15, after a new extension took it beyond the summer half term at the start of June.

It brings Spain, Britain’s biggest holiday market, in line with Italy and Portugal, which let in unvaccinated visitors with a negative test. France allows in unvaccinated travellers without a test, but Greece requires a five-day quarantine for the unvaccinated.

On the radio, Ms Maroto said: “It’s going to be a matter of days before we eliminate a restriction that could be discouraging tourists from outside the European Union from visiting us.

“We are going to stop demanding the Covid certificate and allow people to enter with a negative Covid test.”

She added: “The world sees us as a safe destination and 92 per cent of the Spanish population is vaccinated.

“Tourism is recovering here at rates that would have been difficult to imagine in January. Today that recovery is a reality. Tourism is the lever for economic growth this year.”

The change is expected cause a surge of last-minute bookings by unvaccinated Britons.

Children were exempted from the original ban applied to all adult holidaymakers coming from the UK, although they could enter by showing a Covid recovery certificate. Some 87 per cent of Britons have had a second jab.