- The key dates on the travel roadmap
- Is it legal to go on an ‘amber list’ holiday?
- The latest rules on hotel stays
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As many as 100,000 Britons are expected to fly to Spain this week as the country opened its doors to foreign tourists for the first time this year.
Around 30 flights are due to depart for the country from the UK today, with those arriving not required to present a negative coronavirus test.
But the Government has reiterated its guidance that British holidaymakers should not be travelling to Spain as the country remains on the amber list, meaning anyone returning to the UK will have to quarantine for up to 10 days.
Business Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said this morning: “The Prime Minister has been clear that, for now, amber means ‘please don’t go unless there is an urgent family reason and so on’ because we are still trying to slowly move through our road map to being able to open up on June 21 and we want to do that in a steady and careful way.”
She told Sky News “at the moment, today, that means amber countries really aren’t safe to go to”.
Spain is reopening its borders to overseas tourists ahead of the rest of the EU, which is expected to follow next month when it introduces its vaccine passport.
Is it illegal to travel to an amber list country?
The traffic light system intended to simplify the resumption of overseas travel has only led to more confusion.
With tour operators running trips to destinations on the amber list, against the advice of the Department for Transport (DfT), but in line with guidance from the Foreign Office (FCDO), choosing where to go on holiday has never been so complicated.
Below we have tried to cut through the noise to tell you what exactly you are allowed to do when it comes to a summer break, and what is forbidden by law.
Am I allowed to go on holiday to an amber list country?
By law, yes. If the country is accepting entry for leisure purposes, there is no legal barrier to stop you from going on holiday to an amber list country, provided you are happy to quarantine on return.
But Grant Shapps said I shouldn’t go on holiday to an amber list country?
That’s right, he did. And the Department for Transport says “you should not travel” to these countries. However, you can. It is guidance and not law.
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Do not travel to amber list countries, says business minister
Business Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan was doing the rounds this morning to discuss, among other things, the Government’s stance on amber list travel, including Spain, which reopened to overseas tourists today.
She told Times Radio:
“The reality is, at the moment, amber countries are still not meeting the criteria for our scientists to say that they should be green.
“So the recommendation remains
don’t go unless you have to, and remember that, if you do go, you will have to quarantine for 10 days and that will be monitored.
“The reason we ask people still not to go is because there is still too great a risk as far as our scientists are concerned.”
Spain hotel bookings surge as country remains
The number of nights booked by tourists in Spanish hotels surged to 4.05 million in April from zero a year earlier when a strict coronavirus lockdown paralysed the travel sector and forced most to stay at home, official data showed on Monday.
But despite the jump, the bookings were still 85% below April 2019’s levels, the National Statistics Institute data showed, underscoring the scale of the blow dealt by the pandemic. Overall reservations for the first four months of the year were 71% below the equivalent period last year, as the first restrictions on travel were not introduced until mid-March 2020.
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Preliminary data from booking platforms suggest reservations gathered pace in May after a national state of emergency expired, allowing more Spaniards to travel domestically.
According to the INE, local tourists accounted for nearly 70% of total bookings in April, while Germans, who are free to travel to destinations in the Balearic Islands, made up the largest group of foreign travellers.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has forecast arrivals could reach 30%-40% of their pre-pandemic levels this summer and up to 70% by the year-end.
Five stories to keep an eye on today
Good morning, and we start the week with the grand reopening of Spain.
Here are five more stories to keep an eye on today.
- Croatia ready to welcome back tourists from next week
- EU push ahead with plans for June vaccine passport launch
- France eases restrictions across the country
- Willie Walsh says vaccinated passengers should be free to visit amber countries
- Britons set to work on their staycations this year, poll finds