Spain ‘to escape travel red list’ after fall in beta variant meaning jabbed Brits won’t need to quarantine on return
SPAIN will not be placed on the “red list” tomorrow after seeing cases of the Beta Covid variant plunge, it has been reported.
The Government will instead keep Spain amber, meaning fully jabbed Brits can continue to enjoy a quarantine-free return from the country.
The ten-day quarantine for fully jabbed holidaymakers returning from France will also be removed, The Times reports.
The country was put on an “amber-plus” list last month over fears of the Beta variant.
Ministers believe the strain could be more resistant to vaccines - but are now backtracking as it makes up just 0.4 per cent of cases in France and 0.5 per cent of cases in Spain.
Up to ten countries will now be added to the green list tomorrow, allowing all travellers to avoid quarantine.
They are expected to include Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Poland and will save summer for millions hoping to visit friends and family abroad.
Officials had been considering whether Spain should be moved to a new “amber watchlist” over the variant - warning holidaymakers that it could soon turn red.
But Boris Johnson canned the plans this week after flak from industry experts, airlines and MPs.
The PM said he hoped instead to make holiday advice “as simple as possible” for Brits heading abroad.
The Government also reportedly fears there would not be enough hotel rooms for Brits to quarantine in if Spain were to turn red.
As it stands, anyone returning from a red list destination is required to isolate in a hotel for ten days at their own expense when they get back.
But the Department for Health is said to have struggled to sign new contracts with hotels because of the huge demand from tourists.
HOTEL CHAOS
According to the latest figures, the Government has booked 58,000 hotel rooms on reserve for the quarantine system.
But hundreds of thousands of Brits are currently taking time out in Spain, with millions more set to visit over the coming months.
Government insiders told The Times that the hotel quarantine policy would not be sustainable if Spain was added to the red list.
One Whitehall source said: “Spain won’t be going on the amber watchlist — the only danger is it going red but that’s very unlikely.
"Cases are coming down. And they haven’t got enough beds to quarantine everybody. So it’s not going to happen.”
It comes as hotels in Europe shun Brits because they are fed up with the constant cancellations caused by the Government’s travel chaos.
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Industry chiefs on the continent are rejecting holiday bookings after a series of UK U-turns and tweaks to the traffic light system.
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Noel Josephides, chairman of tour operator Sunvil, said: “Hoteliers are turning away bookings from the UK in August because they do not trust us — and European travellers are taking our beds and availability.
“There is no confidence. Why should people trust us when we have the sword of Damocles hanging over us and things could change and result in cancellations at any moment?”