Tenerife and Lanzarote to launch quick-Covid testing for tourists with 15 minute results to encourage Brits to return
HOTELIERS in the Canary Islands are in talks with regional and national authorities to set up quick coronavirus testing for tourists, with results as fast as 15 minutes.
The new scheme, which would affect the holiday islands including Tenerife and Lanzarote, hopes to to try and save some of the winter season after quarantine restrictions destroyed the summer season.
The UK placed Spain on the quarantine list back in July, after a spike in cases - the country has seen more than 540,000 cases, with the daily infection rate above 8,000.
The Atlantic archipelago is a rare warm destination in winter in Europe, with temperatures remaining around 20C, and the season accounts for half of its annual tourism revenues.
After a sharp drop in tourism amid worries over the COVID-19 pandemic, a UK quarantine and travel warnings from Germany, officials hope quick testing on arrival and departure could help.
"There are tests that are faster and much cheaper than PCRs. There are frequent meetings about it", a spokeswoman of the regional government tourist department said to Reuters, referring to the widely used PCR laboratory tests.
Holidays to the Canary Islands may be able to resume as soon as October following the UK's new quarantine restrictions which allow regional travel corridors.
Quash Quarantine spokesperson Paul Charles told Sun Online Travel: "You've got to hope that the situation does get better by October in terms of case numbers reducing now that the crowds have gone back home. I’m hopeful that October will see these islands opening again.
"I still think there is a chance if you want a holiday, just wait a bit longer for the case numbers to come down and hope the islands manage to get their numbers down."