European nations have offered to open their borders to British holidaymakers this summer – but only if the UK drops its 14-day coronavirus quarantine.
Popular tourist destinations like Spain, Italy and Greece have said that they would be willing to allow UK visitors in to help their under-threat tourism industries.
But they insisted that any deal must be ‘reciprocal’, allowing their own nationals into Britain without spending two weeks in isolation.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has suggested two-way ‘air bridges linking Britain with nations who have low or falling rates of coronavirus cases, boosting hopes stressed Britons will be able to get away on holiday this year.
But with ministers expected to unveil plans tomorrow for a tough new quarantine regime requiring travellers to self-isolate for 14 days after arriving in the UK, holidaymakers were warned not to make holiday plans yet in anticipation of the Med being opened up.
However, ministers are facing increasing rebellion from the Tory backbenches over the quarantine plan at a time when MPs want the economy to be restarted.
Former party leader Iain Duncan Smith told the Telegraph: ‘The Government needs to rethink this quickly and not go into quarantine.
‘If they got their testing level up, then anyone coming in would be tested and put on the tracking app.’
Luigi Di Maio, the Italian foreign minister, said his badly-hit country was ‘ready to receive tourists from Europe with the necessary security’, citing a significant drop in coronavirus cases.
A drone captures people flooding onto a beach in Potamos, Epanomi, Greece, this weekend as public spaces begin to open across the country. The scenes comes as Downing Street played down the idea of opening ‘air bridges’ to some foreign resorts
Former party leader Iain Duncan Smith told the Telegraph: ‘The Government needs to rethink this quickly and not go into quarantine’
Spanish foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said today she hoped her nation’s two-week quarantine would be relaxed from next month in favour of less restrictive measures in time to welcome tourists
‘From mid-June to September it will be possible to travel in Italy without any problems,’ he said, adding that ‘clear health protocols are in place in the accommodation facilities’.
But he added: ‘We will (open the borders) and we expect reciprocity,’
Downing Street has poured rather tepid water on the idea, with the Prime Minister’s Official spokesman saying: ‘It’s an option under consideration but not agreed Government policy.’
And a Whitehall source added: ‘The quarantine rules will be reviewed every three weeks but I think people would be unwise to book a foreign holiday in the expectation that an ‘air bridge’ will open up in time for the summer holidays.
‘It’s the sort of idea you might look at as you exit a quarantine system. But we are just getting started.’
But Aviation Minister Kelly Tolhurst told MPs today that her department had set up an ‘air bridge task force’ to look at the idea, although talks with foreign nations had not yet taken place.
Spanish foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said today she hoped her nation’s two-week quarantine would be relaxed from next month in favour of less restrictive measures in time to welcome tourists.
Ms Gonzalez said: ‘Quarantine is necessary at the moment to prevent importation of Covid cases but this is a temporary measure.
‘The moment we feel that the virus is under control, we will replace quarantine with other measures at the border.’
But she warned that while holidaymakers will be welcomed back to Spain ‘as soon as possible’, but only when safe to do so.
Spain, like the UK, was among the European countries worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak, and introduced lockdown measures on March 14, more than a week ahead of the UK.
It has now begun lifting those restrictions in various regions, with plans to end lockdown next month.
Ms Gonzalez Laya said cities with high concentrations of Covid-19 infection – such as Madrid and Barcelona – remain under stricter rules than more rural areas, but that the country will reopen to visitors at the earliest possible opportunity.
However, she was unable to say whether Spain could welcome UK tourists by the summer.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We are hoping to get tourists back as soon as possible but we are also conscious that, when we welcome them, we want to provide the safest destination in Europe.
‘We want to make sure when they come they can continue to experience the amazing stay in Spain, whether they love sports or culture or cuisine or simply like our weather.
‘But we want to make sure that at this moment, when every country is suffering from this pandemic, we can provide them with a safe and healthy experience – that’s top of our priorities right now.’
Foreign travel has been severely affected by international restrictions, with airline companies grounding planes and making drastic cuts to their routes.
Ryanair, one of the main carriers to Spain from the UK, last week said it planned to restore 40 per cent of its whole flight programme from July, although Health Secretary Matt Hancock also warned that foreign holidays for UK residents are unlikely this summer.
In Paris, France, sun-seekers take to the streets and walk across the River Seine as the government begins to ease its lockdown restrictions
Passengers wear personal protective equipment after landing at Terminal Two of London Heathrow Airport in London
Earlier this week, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps raised hopes that some foreign holidays could be salvaged however the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said it was ‘an option under consideration but not agreed Government policy’
Families take to the water and sunbathe at a Lido in London as the UK begins to edge out of the coronavirus lockdown
Blanket quarantine measures now appear likely to be introduced towards the end of the month, despite warnings they will wreck the holiday plans of Britons and damage the UK tourism industry.
Visit Britain boss Patricia Yates yesterday predicted the economy would lose £15billion from inbound tourism this year.
Mr Shapps raised hopes that some foreign holidays could be salvaged on Monday when he told MPs he was investigating the possibility of allowing quarantine-free ‘air bridges’ to countries with low levels of infection.
Ministers are still finalising the details of the quarantine regime, but it is expected to include fines of at least £1,000 for those breaching the 14 days of self-isolation.
A minister involved in the talks said all arrivals would be stopped by Border Force agents and told to download the Government’s new coronavirus tracking app.
They will be asked to provide their address or details of where they are staying, and police or local authority officials will carry out spot checks to ensure the quarantine is not being breached.
Sources said there would be ‘very few’ exemptions.
Critics have questioned why the Government is tightening the rules at a time when some EU countries are easing travel restrictions and when many airlines have resumed UK flights.
Greek tourism minister Haris Theoharis had called on the Government to agree a no-quarantine pact with his country.
He told the BBC: ‘We feel that this is a time for us to start lifting restrictions and we urge other countries, the UK included, that as soon as we do that we would welcome reciprocity.’
As temperatures began to rise across the UK, Clarice Hui (left) took to London Fields Park in east London with her Corgi while Summer Wallace (right) walked along the seafront in Brighton with her mask
A group of revellers play with a football on Donnant beach in France as the country’s beaches gradually begin to reopen
Greece’s beaches, including this one at Epanomi , near Thessaloniki, on Saturday, are thriving thanks to a low number of coronavirus cases
Beachgoers enjoy the sun at a public beach in Piraeus near Athens, Greece, on May 18, after weeks of lockdown in the country
Aerial view from a drone of people at the overcrowded beach of Potamos in Epanomi, Greece, during a heatwave, a beach near Thessaloniki and Halkidiki
With the Mediterranean nation’s under-pressure economy heavily dependent on holidaymakers it has been making plans to refill deserted beaches and hotels in popular tourist areas like Corfu (pictured)
The Greek islands, visited by three million Britons a year, have been in lockdown since March but hotels are due to open there on July 1.
The country has escaped the worst of the pandemic, with just 165 deaths, and is desperate to welcome tourists back.
Ministers consider quarantine to be a vital part of efforts to prevent a second wave of coronavirus.
But airline bosses fear it will devastate the crippled travel industry. British Airways wanted to restore large-scale operations in July, but this now looks unlikely.
Virgin Atlantic have also indicated that flights will be pushed back to August ‘at the earliest’.
There are also concerns for the 20,000 British nationals still stranded abroad.
It is likely many will have to go into quarantine after returning as the rule could come into force as early as May 28.
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