Spain to allow British tourists to visit without having to go into 14-day quarantine from TOMORROW

Travellers from the UK will not have to quarantine on arrival in Spain from Sunday, Spanish officials have now said.

The Spanish foreign minister said British visitors would be welcomed to Spain from Sunday without the need for quarantine after landing there, as the nation reopens its borders to EU visitors.

Arancha Gonzalez Laya told BBC News: ‘We will allow British visitors to enter Spain just like the rest of the European Union as from June 21, freely and without the need for a quarantine.

‘We’re discussing with the UK authorities to see if they would do the same on their side, we nevertheless are doing this out of respect for the 400,000 British citizens that have a second residence in Spain and are dying to benefit from their homes in our country.

‘We do hope they (the UK Government) will be sensitive to the 250,000 Spaniards that are also living in the UK and would like to enter the UK without a quarantine.’

But without the Government setting up a so-called air corridor with Spain, anyone returning from a trip there would still have to quarantine for 14 days.

It is understood the UK’s quarantine restrictions will be reviewed on 29 June. 

The topic of air bridges is now the hot topic of conversation, as thousands of Brits hope to get in some form of a summer holiday following months of lockdown.

Britain’s ‘air bridges’ plan is set to involve less than ten countries, giving tourists the ability to travel between them and the UK this summer with no mandatory 14-day quarantine.

A total of 12 countries – including Greece, Spain, Portugal and France – are being considered with officials examining both the risk of travellers bringing Covid-19 back and the popularity of the destination. 

At the moment, any traveller arriving in the UK – whether from Britain or a tourist – must quarantine for 14 days and provide their phone number and an address for self-isolation.

The UK’s ‘air bridges’ plan is set to involve less than ten countries, giving tourists the ability to travel between this summer with no mandatory 14-day quarantine. Pictured: Gatwick Airport

The ‘air bridge’ rules would come into play on July 4 and will likely be announced on June 29. 

But it will only go ahead if the chief medical officer provides advice on each nation and the Foreign Office lifts its non-essential travel ban to the countries in question.

Across Europe, Greece has already introduced mandatory Covid-19 testing for arrivals from countries deemed high-risk, such as the UK.

Anyone landing from these countries must also quarantine on arrival. 

However, these tough measures only apply to those arriving from ‘higher risk’ airports.

Those considered ‘lower risk’ include Bristol, Southend and Edinburgh and arrivals from these are only be subject to random testing.

Any plans depend on reducing the risk of a second wave meaning quarantine could stay in place for the next few months.