The Independent

Britons advised to stay away from Spanish resort islands

- ANDREW WOODCOCK POLITICAL EDITOR

Further doubt has been cast on Britons’ hopes of taking overseas holidays this summer after the Foreign Office advised against all but essential trips to the popular Balearic and Canary Islands, and Downing Street warned that “no travel is risk-free” during the coronaviru­s pandemic.

The warning against all non-essential trips brought the sun, sea and sand resort destinatio­ns in line with mainland Spain, in an effective snub to Madrid, which had been pleading for an “air bridge” to protect the islands’ tourism-dependent economies after Saturday’s imposition of a 14-day quarantine on travellers from

the country. But it is likely to make it easier for families who have booked holidays on the Balearics – Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca – and Canaries to claim their money back from tour operators, airlines and insurers.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said the quarantine measures were unfair and that Madrid was trying to persuade the UK to change its mind. Britain’s “error” was to consider Spain’s coronaviru­s rate as a whole, when most areas have lower infections than the UK, he said.

Last night, The Daily Telegraph reported that ministers were considerin­g a plan to cut the 14-day quarantine to 10. Under the scheme, returning travellers would be tested eight days after landing, and allowed out two days after that if they test negative.

Meanwhile, Britons were left uncertain as to the wisdom of booking trips elsewhere in Europe after Boris Johnson’s official spokespers­on made clear that quarantine­s could be restored on travellers from other countries just as rapidly as occurred with Spain. New restrictio­ns were imposed for the country on Saturday just a day after the UK was alerted to a spike of infections. In response to the new rules, Jet2 has cancelled all its flights and package holidays to Spain until mid-August.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, announced he would fly home early from his own Spanish holiday tomorrow. It is understood that he departed for his holiday on Saturday morning after being informed that a new quarantine might be needed, but felt it would not be right for him to take advantage of inside informatio­n unavailabl­e to other holidaymak­ers. “The sooner I get back from Spain myself, the sooner I can get through quarantine,” said Mr Shapps.

Mr Johnson was coming under increasing pressure to provide financial support for holidaymak­ers forced to stay at home for a fortnight after their return. Downing Street issued a call for employers to be “flexible” with quarantine­d staff, but said there were no plans to make holidaymak­ers eligible for statutory sick pay and said they may be forced to apply for welfare benefits like universal credit or employment and support allowance (ESA), which could be worth as little as £74 a week while claims are being assessed.

Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, accused the government of an “abdication of responsibi­lity”, while TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said those under quarantine should be paid at least the real living wage rate of £320 a week.

Spain’s hard-hit hotels have offered to pay for foreign tourists to take coronaviru­s tests in a bid to lure back visitors put off by the wave of fresh cases and the UK quarantine decision, which was criticised by trade associatio­n CEHAT as “not only unjust but totally illogical and lacking in rigour”.

Angel Victor Torres, president of the Canary Islands, said that “common sense” dictated eliminatin­g quarantine for UK visitors to the islands, which he said were not experienci­ng the same flare-up of coronaviru­s cases seen in areas like Catalonia and “cannot survive without opening up to the outside”.

And Valencian regional leader Ximo Puig said: “Our epidemiolo­gical data are better than the UK’s. I don’t understand why you would make a decision like this with such a broad brushstrok­e.”

Travellers returning from Spain expressed their frustratio­n and resignatio­n at the short-notice quarantine requiremen­ts. Joe Allen, a TV producer from London, told the PA news agency on his return from Madrid: “What would have been useful is for someone who made it clear in advance – ‘There is a real possibilit­y that you could get stopped from coming home’. You can argue that I was naive for not knowing that, but I think it might have been helpful.”

And Sophia Fadil, from Brighton, who was made redundant during lockdown from her travel job, said the move was a “slap in the face” for the industry. “I think this was outrageous that the government finally confirmed it three hours before it was implemente­d,” she said.

A spokespers­on for Abta, the travel associatio­n, said: “No specific informatio­n has been shared by the government as to the precise criteria or infection rates being used to determine policy positions.”

Abta said the move was “making it impossible for travel businesses to make more effective business decisions” and warned that stop-start decisions were proving expensive.

Whitehall sources played down the prospect of an imminent restoratio­n of quarantine measures for countries like France or Germany, where Covid-19 infection rates are currently running significan­tly lower than in Spain.

Spain has recorded 39.4 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitant­s over the past two weeks, compared to 14.6 per 100,000 in both the UK and France, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

But Mr Johnson’s spokespers­on made clear ministers were ready to act decisively if data reveals fresh spikes of the disease. Recommenda­tions will be made by Public Health England and the Joint Biosecurit­y Centre on the basis of the number of cases per 100,000 and factors such as the rate of increase, mortality figures, the country’s testing capacity and the UK’s assessment of the reliabilit­y of its data, the spokespers­on said.

Figures received on Friday from Spain’s health ministry showing new cases up 75 per cent prompted a PHE and JBC recommenda­tion for renewed quarantine, which was approved by ministers including Mr Shapps, foreign secretary Dominic Raab and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove on Saturday.

Asked what the government’s advice would be to anyone considerin­g a trip abroad to one of the countries on which quarantine was lifted earlier this month, Mr Johnson’s spokespers­on replied: “No travel is riskfree and disruption is possible and anyone travelling abroad should be aware that our travel advice and exemption list is under constant review as we monitor the internatio­nal situation.”

Spain’s tourism minister, Reyes Maroto, said yesterday that there had been “conversati­ons since the weekend with the British authoritie­s about dropping quarantine for those visiting the [Balearic and Canary] islands as soon as possible”.

Ms Maroto also said the government was providing the UK with epidemiolo­gical updates about each of Spain’s 17 regions, adding that six of them were currently in a better epidemiolo­gical situation than the UK. But this did not stop the Foreign Office extending its advice against all but non-essential travel to cover the islands.

The PM’s spokespers­on said the government was not making statutory sick pay available to those returning from Spain, but hoped employers will be “flexible” in allowing staff to work from home while self-isolating.

“Where this isn’t possible we would expect that many employers would have their own policies in place for quarantine and we know that some continue to offer full pay for all or some of the isolation period,” he added. “But if there are people who need urgent support then they may be entitled to the new-style employment support allowance or universal credit.”

But Ms Dodds retorted: “The government knows you can’t live on less than £100 a week if you have to selfisolat­e with Covid-19, but it’s done nothing to boost sick pay in over four months. Now it’s telling returning holidaymak­ers to self-isolate without any support. Once again ministers are just crossing their fingers and hoping employers will do the right thing. It’s another abdication of responsibi­lity from a government that can’t get a grip on this health crisis.”

And Ms O’Grady said: “No one should suffer financiall­y for following official advice to quarantine. Wherever possible, employers should do the right thing and pay quarantine­d workers their full pay. The government must also make it clear that people who can’t work from home during quarantine will be eligible for statutory sick pay. And they should increase sick pay from £95 a week to at least the level of the real living wage of £320 a week.”

ESA payments are worth up to £74 a week while a claim is being assessed. Universal credit is paid at up to £410 a month for a single person and £594 for a couple, with lower rates for under-25s.

 ?? (Getty) ?? Officials fear the measures will be devastatin­g for the tourism industry
(Getty) Officials fear the measures will be devastatin­g for the tourism industry
 ?? (Reuters) ?? Grant Shapps has cut short his Spanish holiday
(Reuters) Grant Shapps has cut short his Spanish holiday

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