Unvaccinated Brit holidaymakers no longer have to quarantine on arrival in Portugal
BRITISH holidaymakers who have not been fully vaccinated will no longer have to quarantine after jetting to mainland Portugal.
The Portuguese government announced today it was dropping quarantine requirements for travellers from the UK.
Portugal introduced the controversial regulations in June after Angela Merkel’s push to impose a European Union-wide quarantine on British tourists, including those who had been double-jabbed.
The new rules came into effect nearly three weeks after the UK’s decision to kick Portugal off its green list which led to thousands of people cutting short their holidays so they could beat a new quarantine deadline.
Anyone travelling to Portugal from the UK by land, sea or air were told they had to show they had received their second jab at least a fortnight earlier or self-isolate.
The new rules were expected to remain in place until at least July 11 but have ended up being applied until now.
The change is expected to lead to an increase in the number of British holidaymakers jetting to popular Brit resorts in areas like the Algarve.
All Brits travelling to mainland Portugal, except children under 12, will have to present proof they have received both their jabs or a negative test result for coronavirus to avoid quarantine - 72 hours before arriving for the ‘Gold Standard’ PCR tests and 48 hours for an antigen test.
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Airlines have been warned they could face fines of up to £1,700 per passengers for letting holidaymakers board planes without the right certificates.
The new measures came into effect at midnight today and will remain in place for at least the next fortnight when the next review is due.
At the start of last month Portugal lifted quarantine requirements for Brits jabbed with the Indian-made AstraZeneca vaccine.
At the time Portugal was one of the 13 European countries said to be refusing to recognise the Indian dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India and known as Covishield.
But on August 4 it emerged the Portuguese government had changed its mind and would recognise all AstraZeneca doses as well as the Chinese-made vaccine Sinovac.
The U-turn is understood to have occurred after Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was urged to take action on his visit to Brazil by members of the Portuguese community who will benefit from the decision.
Up to five million Brits were given the Indian-made AstraZeneca vaccine.
Portugal went on the UK’s green list for three weeks earlier this year before being switched to amber at the start of June in a move which caused chaos for thousands of Brits who had to rearrange flights home and Covid tests to beat a quarantine deadline.
Mainland Portugal is still on the UK’s amber list although Madeira and now Azores are on the green watchlist.
Madeira has been open to travellers to who can either show proof of a full Covid-19 vaccination for several weeks now.