The Diplomat
The UK government has removed Spain from its list of safe countries to travel to, meaning that those who decide to travel to Spain will have to be quarantined by COVID on their return.
The British authorities yesterday published a “green list” of 12 countries and territories to which travel will be facilitated from 17 May, including Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel, but not including, for the moment, Spain, France, Greece or the United States.
The measure is a further blow to tourism in Spain, as many Britons are currently planning their holidays and our country is traditionally one of their favourite destinations.
Transport Minister Grant Shapps said that travellers returning to the UK from these destinations will not have to comply with a ten-day quarantine and will have to take a PCR test for coronavirus once they have returned.
On the other hand, those arriving in the UK from an ‘amber’ territory, such as Spain, will be required to undergo a coronavirus test before returning, and a ten-day quarantine on return. However, the traveller will not be obliged to do this quarantine in hotels, but can do it at home.
Travellers will also be given the option of taking a test on the second or eighth day of quarantine, which would allow them to leave isolation early.
However, London has asked tourists “not to travel to amber-listed countries or territories for leisure purposes”, according to a statement on the UK government’s website.
At a press conference, Shapps explained that the classification will be reviewed three weeks after 17 May, the date on which the ban on foreign travel from the UK will be lifted.
