Spain aim to lift travel ban for British tourists from May 20th

The Minister of Tourism for Spain, Reyes Maroto, said yesterday (Tuesday) that the member countries of the European Union are working to modify the ruling that regulates non-essential travel from outside the EU, to allow travel for British tourists  to Spain from as soon as May 20^th.

In the press conference after the Council of Ministers meeting in Madrid, Maroto indicated that it is expected that the revision of this recommendation could be approved "around May 20th", which would allow the opening of the British market to Spain, and added that because the UK incidence rate is below the range that is being reviewed right now, they could also be "excluded from needing a negative PCR test result to enter the country, due to epidemiological and vaccination data in the country.”

This would be good news for everyone as even though Spain is currently on the amber list for travel from the UK, it would mean holidaymakers only needing to meet the UK requirements as there would no test required to enter Spain.

Maroto concluded by saying that it is "good news" and that Spain is "very active" in the revision of the recommendation, of which "tomorrow there could be a first agreement."

The minister stressed that the Government is working with the UK to take into account the regionalization of Spain and to separate the islands from the mainland, as there is an asymmetry in the incidence rates between the autonomous communities, and the evolution of the pandemic is transferred weekly in every region individually. “The Government knows what it has to do so that the British can travel to Spain, we have to continue lowering the incidence rates and continue vaccinating."