Now that the UK has dropped quarantine for travellers returning from amber list countries, and agreed this week that from Monday (August 2nd) expats and European travellers with the EU Digital Covid Certificate will also avoid it too with a day 2 PCR test, the question everyone is awaiting the answer for is, is Spain (including the Balearic and Canary Islands) in danger of being moved on to the UK’s amber-plus list for travel.
At the moment the islands and the mainland are benefitting from an increase, all be it not great, in numbers of tourists, the Balearics with Brits, Italians, and Spanish, the Canaries with some Brits but mainly other EU nationals and the mainland with equal amounts from around Europe, however it is no secret that there has also been a surge in coronavirus cases due to the Delta variant.
At the moment any change in status is speculation as the next UK travel review is next week, however, Covid positivity rates among travellers returning from Spain have almost tripled since the end of June, according to official data that ministers could use to impose tougher quarantine rules.
More than 70,000 people flew into England from Spain over the first three weeks of July, and 2,065 of them tested positive which is a rate of 2.9% compared to just 0.9% throughout June. Also, the latest NHS Test and Trace statistics will be fed into No10, which Whitehall insiders say is, allegedly, already considering imposing stricter rules on Spain.
The UK Government is set to update its travel quarantine list next week and there are hopes dozens more destinations will be placed on the green and amber lists. But if the Government decides to push the panic button in the face of soaring rates among travellers to Spain, it could see the nation placed on the amber-plus list, meaning all arrivals would have to isolate for 10 days upon return, even if they've been fully vaccinated.
However, at the last two reviews the UK Travel Taskforce has reviewed mainland Spain and the two archipelagos separately, which could be beneficial for the Canary Islands, if they deem the levels to be low or stable enough. Currently the comparative incidence rates are as follows:
Canary Islands IA7: 247.06
Canary Islands IA14: 487.42
Balearic Islands IA7: 388.80
Balearic Islands IA14: 951.65
Spain IA7: 315.09
Spain IA14: 696.31
Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, warned there are no 'cast-iron guarantees' that Spain will stay quarantine-free for vaccinated Brits. Putting the country under tougher travel rules would wreck thousands of holidays, and force many to try to fly home early from their sun-seeking breaks.
As it stands, France is the only country on the amber-plus list even though Spain now has the highest incident rates in Europe due to the Delta variant. UK health officials are said to be 'getting very jumpy' about Spain's situation with the strain, which emerged in South Africa and is thought to be more resistant to the AstraZeneca vaccine given to millions in the UK.
Spain has been on the amber list ever since foreign holidays were given the green light again when the Government eased restrictions in May, and as a result, the number of people flying into England from Spain has been nearly doubling every few weeks.
Asked about the possibility of Spain going on an 'amber watchlist', with the possibility of it moving straight to the red category, Mr Raab said: 'I can't rule things that the JBC and the government will decide, but they'll make that decision next week in terms of the traffic light system for all the relevant countries.'
Mr Raab said the 'momentum forward is positive' with the high proportion of Britons who are double-jabbed. 'We've done the job we had to do domestically, and as we see other countries catch up, I think we're increasingly confident that more countries will go on either on amber or onto green,' he said.
Pushed for advice to would-be holidaymakers, Mr Raab said 'you'll know next week'. He suggested if there is a need to book immediately they will 'have to base it on the traffic light system we've got in place right now', adding 'we can't give cast iron guarantees about what the next review system will decide. If we did it wouldn't be a very meaningful review system.’
