UK travellers criticise Spanish quarantine; Britain defends move

British tourists reacted with dismay on Sunday at their government’s abrupt decision to impose a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travellers returning from Spain, but the government stood by it, saying it would make no apologies.

The measure upset the plans of many people either on holiday or planning to take one, hit hard at the Spanish tourism sector just as it emerges from months of lockdowns and travel restrictions, and caused more disruption for airlines and tour companies.

“It ruins plans for everybody,” Emily Harrison, from Essex, as she prepared to fly back home from Madrid’s Barajas airport and faced two weeks of self-isolation. “Everyone is now panicking.”

While she and other travellers at British and Spanish airports were upset, foreign minister Dominic Raab said it was a “real-time response” to a jump in coronavirus cases in Spain.

“We can’t make apologies...we must be able to take swift, decisive action.

The government announced it was taking Spain off a safe-travel list late on Saturday and the move took effect just hours later, leaving travellers with no time to dodge it or plan ahead.

The opposition Labour Party’s health policy chief, Jonathan Ashworth, slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government for its “frankly shambolic” handling of the measure.

TUI, Europe’s biggest holiday company, said it would cancel all holidays to mainland Spain up to Aug. 9, while maintaining flights to the Balearic and Canary islands.

Spain has seen COVID-19 cases rise in the last few weeks, prompting most regions to impose rules for masks to be worn everywhere and, in several areas including Barcelona, calls for people to stay at home.

Most new cases have been concentrated in the northeastern region of Catalonia and neighbouring regions, so



a lot of the criticism focused on the fact that the quarantine also applies to other areas, which have been spared the brunt of the pandemic.

“This is ridiculous. There are almost no cases here and there’s a far higher chance of contracting it when I get back to Britain,” said John Snelling, 50, from Stratford-upon-Avon, who was on holiday in Menorca.

Britain has been the hardest hit country in Europe by the pandemic. Spain was also badly affected, with more than 290,000 cases and over 28,000 deaths. It imposed very strict lockdown measures, gradually easing them earlier in the summer.

‘ABSOLUTE DISASTER’

Norway last week reimposed a 10-day quarantine requirement for people arriving from Spain, while France advised people not to travel to Catalonia.

But a collapse of tourism from Britain would have far more of an impact on the economy in Spain, where tourism accounts for 12% of GDP. Britons made up more than 20% of foreign visitors to Spain last year, the largest group by nationality.

“This decision is an absolute disaster for the recovery, there’s no other way to see this,” Angel Tavares, head of European Economics at Oxford Economics consulting, said on Twitter, referring to the quarantine measure.

Antonio Perez, mayor of the Mediterranean resort of Benidorm that is hugely dependent on British tourists, said it was a “tough blow”.

The Spanish government response has been muted so far. Officials said only that Spain is safe, with clusters under control, adding Madrid “respects decisions of the United Kingdom” and is in touch with British authorities.

In addition to the quarantine, Britain advised against all but essential travel to mainland Spain. Regional authorities in the Canary and Balearic Islands said they would try to get an exemption from the quarantine.