Quarantine restrictions reinstated for UK arrivals from Spain

Spain has been removed from the UK government’s ‘safe list’ of countries that do not require travellers to quarantine for 14 days on their return.

The reimposed quarantine measures will apply to those arriving in the UK from mainland Spain, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. The move came after five countries were added to the 'safe' list at the end of last week.

A government spokesperson said: “The Joint Biosecurity Centre together with Public Health England have updated their coronavirus assessments of Spain based on the latest data.

“As a result, Spain has been removed from the lists of countries from which passengers arriving in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are exempted from the need to self-isolate.

“Protecting public health is our absolute priority and we have taken this decision to limit any potential spread to the UK.

“We’ve always been clear that we would act immediately to remove a country where necessary. Both our list of quarantine exemptions and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office travel advice are being updated to reflect these latest risk assessments.”

The FCO updated its guidance on Saturday evening, although its advice against all but essential travel currently relates only to mainland Spain and not the Canary Islands or Balearic Islands.

Spain was one of the countries included on the government’s original ‘safe list’ published on 3 July, and was also added to the Scottish equivalent, having initially been omitted.

The UK government’s list was subsequently extended with the addition of five countries on Friday. However, the government has always been clear that it would remove countries if risks were deemed to have increased, as was the case with Serbia.

*By Travel Weekly reporters

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