Spain will welcome back Brits by March
Spain’s latest tourist scheme hopes to see Brits back by next March with no travel restrictions or quarantines. The country is currently off the UK’s travel corridor list, apart from the Canary Islands which don’t require a quarantine.
All arrivals must have a negative Covid-19 test taken 72 hours before travelling to be allowed to enter, with many complaining they cost more than their holiday. But Spain’s authorities are hoping to ditch these restrictions by spring 2021, especially for the Balearic Islands.
The island’s tourism minister, Iago Negueruela, said that safe tourism should start “from the end of March,” adding: “First of all, however, there is the task of positioning, selling and explaining to the world that the islands are a safe destination.”
Tourism hit by Covid-19
Spain is one of the worst-hit European destinations, with nearly 1.7m cases of Covid-19 – behind France, Italy and the UK.
Spain’s Majorica and Ibiza are some of the most popular holiday destinations for Brits but travel there has been off the cards since Spain was removed from the travel corridor list earlier this year.
Spain has topped the leaderboard for destinations where Brits travel to on holiday. 9.8 million British people travel annually to Spain for their summer break – perhaps not this year though! 🛫🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/ucC8npGu8L
— Kirk Balk MFL (@kirkbalkmfl) December 2, 2020
Covid-19 vaccine gives hopes to end travel restrictions
Thanks to the vaccine announcement, however, the islands have seen a booking boom already – Majorca saw holidays jump up 30 per cent.
A local tour operator explained: “Most of the reservations were made for summer 2021, but with discounts on offer for March, April and May we are predicting that the tourist season will be better in 2021, even although it will still be around 50 per cent less than 2019.
“The positive thing is that it will be a big improvement on this year.”
Spanish package holidays for summer 2021 have already been opened by tour operators who are anticipating a massive demand. Jet2 and Thomas Cook are offering deals to the islands and the mainland for 2021.
It’s still too early to know how the vaccine rollout, which starts in the UK this week, will affect holidays with destinations likely to keep restrictions in place for now.
Cyprus is the first country to allow vaccinated travellers to skip the travel restrictions and mandatory tests.
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