Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel to Spanish isles
The Foreign Office is now warning against all but essential travel to the Balearic and Canary Islands after a surge in coronavirus infections in Spain.
Travellers returning from the islands to the UK will have to quarantine for 14 days, the FCO confirmed via tweet this evening.
“Travel advice for Spain has been further updated. The FCO now advises against all non-essential travel to Spain, including the Balearic and Canary Islands.
“You will have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival into the UK”, it wrote.
The decision to extend the self-isolation measures to the islands came after restrictions on travellers from mainland Spain came into effect over the weekend.
However, it was reported that ministers were in talks with their counterparts over the possibility of an exemption for people returning from the islands.
Earlier today, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “no travel is risk-free during this pandemic”.
The quarantine was criticised by some for giving people only hours to adjust to the new rules as it was announced on Saturday afternoon and to be implemented the next day.
Thousands of people, including transport secretary Grant Shapps, were caught out by the rule change, and will have to isolate on their return to the UK.
In a statement, Shapps said he would cut his holiday short and return to the UK this week to complete the quarantine period.
Stocks in airline companies fell after the new quarantine measures were implemented, with some airlines already cancelling flights from the UK to Spain.
The decision to reimpose the measures met with harsh criticism from the fragile sector, with fears that it may set back hopes of recovery even further.
Global body IATA called the UK’s decision a “big setback” for aviation, saying it would hit consumer confidence hard.