Anyone arriving in the UK from Spain, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands after midnight tonight will have to quarantine for fourteen days, the UK Government has said.
Spain is to be removed from England’s travel corridor list tonight – a list of places where arrivals from into the UK do not need to quarantine.
The Scottish Government confirmed reports that the decision had been made by the UK Government and all the devolved administrations before an announcement was then made by the Department for Transport.
All arrivals, including British tourists, will have to quarantine for 14 days – except for people who are exempt from the quarantine rules, such as some people working in logistics, for example.
The announcement is expected to cause havoc to the travel plans of thousands of Britons, who face having their holidays cancelled at the last minute. Major operator TUI has confirmed to us that they will be cancelling flights from the UK to Spain as part of their pledge to only fly customers to destinations where they don’t need to self-isolate on arrival or when they return to England.
In a statement, TUI said;
“As per our TUI Holiday Promise, we won’t take customers on holiday if we know they’re required to quarantine on arrival or on their return home.”
“If a customer’s holiday can’t go ahead due to COVID-19, they’ll have the option to receive a refund credit note for the full value of their holiday or a cash refund.”
Jet2 and other airlines are also expected to cancel flights and anybody with a holiday planned to Spain is advised to check with their airline before travelling to the airport.
The removal of Spain from the travel corridor and safe places to travel list comes as the Coronavirus infection rate in the country has tripled since the easing of lockdown. Spain is to become the second country to be removed from the travel corridor list, with Serbia removed from the list from 11 July 2020.
This is a developing story…
