Kirsty Mckenzie
SPAIN’S Balearic Islands have been included on an updated UK green travel list announced by Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps on Thursday evening.
This means British travellers will be able to visit Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera without having to quarantine on their return to the UK.
The islands are heavily dependent on tourist income and are already welcoming German tourists.
Other green list additions announced by Shapps include Malta and Madeira as well as a range of countries in the Caribbean region and a chance to cool off by travelling to the British Antarctic Territory.
The changes come into force on June 30 at 4.00 am(UK time).
No countries or territories have been removed from the current green list which includes Gibraltar.
The rest of Spain, including the Canary Islands, remain on the amber list, which means UK travellers will have to quarantine for 10 days on their return home.
The rules for UK nationals returning from a green list country are that they have to take a PCR test before departure which produces a negative result.
A PCR test also has to be booked for the second day after returning to the UK and a Passenger Locator Form also has to be filled in.
There is no quarantine required unless the ‘second day’ test produces a positive result.
Travellers from amber list countries have the same rules as for green, but with a 10-day quarantine period and an additional PCR test required on day nine.
Today’s news over the green list effectively knocks out any significant UK travel to the Spanish mainland and the Canary Islands for July and will already raise early question marks over August.
Attempts by Spanish government officials to try to get ‘low infection’ mainland areas like the Valencian Community onto the Green list have been dismissed as being ‘unpractical’.
READ MORE:
- Balearic Islands added to Northern Ireland’s green travel list
- EXPLAINED: Spain’s new entry rules for vaccinated or COVID-19 immune travellers
- EXPLAINER: What Spain’s ‘amber’ classification on UK travel list means for travellers
