Thousands of Brits on holiday in Spain face threat of quarantine on return – as country sees coronavirus cases TRIPLE
THOUSANDS of Brits on holiday in Spain could have to quarantine on their return as the country is on the brink of being deemed unsafe.
It has been hit with a fresh outbreak of coronavirus, with cases up threefold since the end of their lockdown.
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Droves of Brits have already flocked to the Costas and Balearics but now risk being forced to undergo border measures on their return.
Sources at Whitehall have said the situation is being closely monitored and a decision to throw Spain or parts of it off the safe list could be made by the end of this week.
Next week there will be a decision on the 25 quarantine-free links to other countries and the three-week reviews will also be formally ditched in favour of a new “rolling system”.
On Monday, Spain saw a huge jump of 4,581 new virus cases and travel experts immediately said the spike was a “massive test” for the Government’s travel corridor policy.
Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “It makes sense that if cases continue to rise in Spain, it should fall off the list.
“This is the equivalent of implementing a local lockdown, internationally, but the problem is we are heading into peak holiday season.”
In contrast, Portugal — denied an air link by ministers in the first quarantine review — had just 135 new cases and will be deemed safe.
It will mean Brits should be able to jet off to the Algarve next week without having to quarantine on return.
The new quarantine “rolling system” will mirror the Foreign Office’s travel advice, with nation by nation warnings regularly updated.
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A Whitehall source said: “Instead of big reviews every three weeks, we will look for a system where countries come on and off as and when we see spikes or drops in cases.”
Mr Charles told The Sun: “I cannot see a situation where the Government advises against a single destination rather than the whole country.
“It would be logistically very difficult to implement, as people are often flying in and moving to a different region — it would be nearly impossible to police.”
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