THE average Spanish resident will spend between €500 and €1,500 on their holidays this year, with three in 10 set to increase their budget from last year and 16% reducing it.
England lifts quarantine for vaccinated non-resident arrivals from 'amber' countries – Spain included
28/07/2021
TRAVELLERS entering the UK from 'amber' countries in the European Union – which includes Spain - and from the USA will not have to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated and their destination is England, the British Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed today.
The announcement comes just nine days after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said holidaymakers returning home to England from 'amber' territories would be able to avoid the 10-day quarantine upon sight of a vaccine certificate, but that British nationals living in these same countries and visiting friends and family in England would still have to observe the isolation period.
The reason for this was that the UK was only accepting NHS (National Health Service) vaccine proof, and did not recognise the EU's 'Covid passport', even though the same vaccines have been used on both sides of the Channel and despite all EU member States' considering at least the printed version of the NHS certificate to be valid.
This led to an outcry among Brits living in 'amber' countries whose vaccinated compatriots would be able to visit and go home without quarantine, whilst they could not do so if travelling the same route in reverse.
It also, effectively, meant that anyone native to and still living in these countries was forced to quarantine upon entering the UK for a holiday where the only difference between them and British tourists returning home was nationality.
The DfT denied discrimination and cited 'safe movement', but was not willing to comment when challenged on the basis that the only difference between two fully-immunised travellers arriving from identical 'amber' countries and having been vaccinated with the same formula was that one held an EU and the other an NHS vaccine certificate.
Today (Wednesday, July 28), the BBC has revealed that anyone who has had all their jabs, provided these were with a vaccine formula approved by the EU or USA, would not have to quarantine when entering England from an 'amber' country, irrespective of whether they were visiting or whether they were returning to the UK from holiday.
It only applies to England, not to any other British region, but means the EU 'Covid digital certificate' – available from all Spain's regional health authorities online – is now accepted as proof of complete immunisation.
As is the case with UK residents going home to England from a holiday in an 'amber' nation, they will still have to take a PCR test not more than 72 hours before arrival and show a negative result, and another two days after entering the country, but will not have to remain isolated in the same indoor venue for 10 days and pay for a third PCR on day eight.
The 'test to release' scheme, where paying for an additional PCR may allow a traveller to leave quarantine after five days, is still in place for the non-vaccinated and in other British regions.
“What's the difference between a double-vaccinated British, French or Spanish person?”
Among those affected who were interviewed by the BBC, tour operators, Brits living in Europe, and Europeans with family in the UK gave their views.
One travel consultant said the industry has been pushing for Britain to accept EU-issued vaccine certificates as exemption from quarantine in the same way as NHS certificates are recognised, since the UK holiday sector 'is worth billions of pounds'.
London in particular is a very popular destination with Spaniards, and with around 200,000 Spanish nationals living in the UK, many will now be able to welcome family from Spain on visits.
Changing the rules, the consultant said, would 'pump vital cash' into the British economy – or, at least, the English economy.
This is also true of tour operators who run trips to the UK from the USA, and in reverse.
“It's especially good news for our airlines who need to fill their seats across the Atlantic...it will encourage millions of extra visitors into the UK at a time when the sector badly needs them,” he was quoted as saying.
Another travel company manager says his firm, Tourist England, arranges visits for travellers from overseas, of whom 80% are from either EU countries or the USA and who have been almost entirely absent for the past 18 months.
Allowing them entry to England, at least, without quarantine if they are vaccinated is 'critical for the revival of the inbound tourism sector', he says, but that any rules brought in needed to be kept in place rather than changed constantly at the last minute, since this legal unpredictability has made it 'impossible to plan ahead'.
It has also meant Brits living in Europe have not been able to plan trips to the UK to see family, since they ran the risk of being denied entry or having to quarantine after they had already booked a flight.
One woman quoted in the BBC article was Isabelle, a 56-year-old school teacher living in France and whose long-term partner John lives in Kent, south-east England, and whom she had not been able to see since Christmas due to quarantine rules.
Having to self-isolate when visiting John in the summer holidays would eat into their time together and be 10 wasted days that they could not see each other.
“What's the difference between a double-vaccinated French person or Spanish person or British person?” she asked.
“There is none. We are using the same vaccines everywhere, so what's the difference?”
At present, though, travellers from France, even returning British tourists who are vaccinated, still have to quarantine due to high contagion incidence, but at least there is no disparity in treatment between holders of NHS and EU vaccine certificates.
The DfT has realised that allowing immunised English residents to travel abroad without quarantine is not enough, as the rules in place until now would still negatively affect a proportion of the nation's own citizens who had also been immunised.
It has agreed that the change in criteria 'will help reunite family and friends whose loved ones live abroad'.
European Union countries, including Spain, are currently only using four types of vaccine, which have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and also by British authorities – the Moderna, Janssen, AstraZeneca and Pfizer.
Spain is leaning more towards the Pfizer, although earlier, the AstraZeneca was very much in use, especially in the over-60s; the UK uses the AstraZeneca in the over-40s and the Pfizer in those who are younger.
After having one's final jab, at least 14 days must pass before the person is considered 'inoculated'.
Related Topics
TRAVELLERS entering the UK from 'amber' countries in the European Union – which includes Spain - and from the USA will not have to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated and their destination is England, the British Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed today.
The announcement comes just nine days after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said holidaymakers returning home to England from 'amber' territories would be able to avoid the 10-day quarantine upon sight of a vaccine certificate, but that British nationals living in these same countries and visiting friends and family in England would still have to observe the isolation period.
The reason for this was that the UK was only accepting NHS (National Health Service) vaccine proof, and did not recognise the EU's 'Covid passport', even though the same vaccines have been used on both sides of the Channel and despite all EU member States' considering at least the printed version of the NHS certificate to be valid.
This led to an outcry among Brits living in 'amber' countries whose vaccinated compatriots would be able to visit and go home without quarantine, whilst they could not do so if travelling the same route in reverse.
It also, effectively, meant that anyone native to and still living in these countries was forced to quarantine upon entering the UK for a holiday where the only difference between them and British tourists returning home was nationality.
The DfT denied discrimination and cited 'safe movement', but was not willing to comment when challenged on the basis that the only difference between two fully-immunised travellers arriving from identical 'amber' countries and having been vaccinated with the same formula was that one held an EU and the other an NHS vaccine certificate.
Today (Wednesday, July 28), the BBC has revealed that anyone who has had all their jabs, provided these were with a vaccine formula approved by the EU or USA, would not have to quarantine when entering England from an 'amber' country, irrespective of whether they were visiting or whether they were returning to the UK from holiday.
It only applies to England, not to any other British region, but means the EU 'Covid digital certificate' – available from all Spain's regional health authorities online – is now accepted as proof of complete immunisation.
As is the case with UK residents going home to England from a holiday in an 'amber' nation, they will still have to take a PCR test not more than 72 hours before arrival and show a negative result, and another two days after entering the country, but will not have to remain isolated in the same indoor venue for 10 days and pay for a third PCR on day eight.
The 'test to release' scheme, where paying for an additional PCR may allow a traveller to leave quarantine after five days, is still in place for the non-vaccinated and in other British regions.
“What's the difference between a double-vaccinated British, French or Spanish person?”
Among those affected who were interviewed by the BBC, tour operators, Brits living in Europe, and Europeans with family in the UK gave their views.
One travel consultant said the industry has been pushing for Britain to accept EU-issued vaccine certificates as exemption from quarantine in the same way as NHS certificates are recognised, since the UK holiday sector 'is worth billions of pounds'.
London in particular is a very popular destination with Spaniards, and with around 200,000 Spanish nationals living in the UK, many will now be able to welcome family from Spain on visits.
Changing the rules, the consultant said, would 'pump vital cash' into the British economy – or, at least, the English economy.
This is also true of tour operators who run trips to the UK from the USA, and in reverse.
“It's especially good news for our airlines who need to fill their seats across the Atlantic...it will encourage millions of extra visitors into the UK at a time when the sector badly needs them,” he was quoted as saying.
Another travel company manager says his firm, Tourist England, arranges visits for travellers from overseas, of whom 80% are from either EU countries or the USA and who have been almost entirely absent for the past 18 months.
Allowing them entry to England, at least, without quarantine if they are vaccinated is 'critical for the revival of the inbound tourism sector', he says, but that any rules brought in needed to be kept in place rather than changed constantly at the last minute, since this legal unpredictability has made it 'impossible to plan ahead'.
It has also meant Brits living in Europe have not been able to plan trips to the UK to see family, since they ran the risk of being denied entry or having to quarantine after they had already booked a flight.
One woman quoted in the BBC article was Isabelle, a 56-year-old school teacher living in France and whose long-term partner John lives in Kent, south-east England, and whom she had not been able to see since Christmas due to quarantine rules.
Having to self-isolate when visiting John in the summer holidays would eat into their time together and be 10 wasted days that they could not see each other.
“What's the difference between a double-vaccinated French person or Spanish person or British person?” she asked.
“There is none. We are using the same vaccines everywhere, so what's the difference?”
At present, though, travellers from France, even returning British tourists who are vaccinated, still have to quarantine due to high contagion incidence, but at least there is no disparity in treatment between holders of NHS and EU vaccine certificates.
The DfT has realised that allowing immunised English residents to travel abroad without quarantine is not enough, as the rules in place until now would still negatively affect a proportion of the nation's own citizens who had also been immunised.
It has agreed that the change in criteria 'will help reunite family and friends whose loved ones live abroad'.
European Union countries, including Spain, are currently only using four types of vaccine, which have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and also by British authorities – the Moderna, Janssen, AstraZeneca and Pfizer.
Spain is leaning more towards the Pfizer, although earlier, the AstraZeneca was very much in use, especially in the over-60s; the UK uses the AstraZeneca in the over-40s and the Pfizer in those who are younger.
After having one's final jab, at least 14 days must pass before the person is considered 'inoculated'.
Related Topics
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