UK tourists can now visit Spain without having to quarantine on arrival.
Spain’s foreign affairs minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya announced this to newsmen.
Laya said the decision had been made “out of respect” for the 400,000 Britons who have second homes in Spain.
But current rules state that anyone returning to – or entering – the UK still has to self-isolate for 14 days, but the restrictions will be reviewed on 29 June.
Spain’s foreign affairs minister added that UK visitors will however go through a “triple check” upon arrival to Spain.
She said they will be asked for their country of origin and to register, “so we know we have a contact point to trace them”.
“We want to make sure that we welcome visitors, but we want to do this in safety and security for them, as well as for the Spaniards,” she said.
She said she is hoping that [the British authorities] will be sensitive to the 250,000 Spaniards that are also living in the UK and would very much like to enter the UK without quarantine.
But she added: “We also respect that countries look at entry or exit restrictions on the basis of their own data.”
Also Read: India-China clash: Modi says soldiers’ deaths ‘will not be in vain’
Since 8 June, people arriving in the UK have been required to self-isolate for 14 days to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
The government is now planning to relax its travel quarantine rules for some countries in early July.
UK officials are talking to their counterparts in Portugal, France, Italy, Greece and Spain, and ministers are hoping to make an announcement on 29 June that the government has secured a number of “travel corridors”.
The government had previously said that the quarantine would be reviewed every three weeks and 29 June marks the end of the first three-week period.
Editor: Ifeanyi Mark
