Spain reopened its national borders to tourists after nearly four months of complete lockdown to keep the spread of the coronavirus under control. Despite earlier suggestions Madrid could impose a strict quarantine on British tourists, the Spanish Government confirmed Britons will be able to enjoy their holidays in Spain. While free to enter the country without major restrictions, tourists from Britain will still be required to undergo three “fundamental” tests before being allowed to begin their summer break.
Manuel Muñiz, the Secretary of State for Global Spain, told the Today programme: “Basically, they are going to see three fundamental checks at the border.
“There will be a temperature check, a visual check of everybody arriving and they will have to fill a health form where they are going to have to indicate any symptoms they might have had in prior days.
“Any contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases and they are going to have to leave their contact details.
“There is going to be a follow up for the following fourteen days from the health authorities just to see how they are doing and if they have developed any symptoms while in Spain.”
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Mr Muñiz continued: “Also, the tourism industry has approved 20 odd protocols for the sectors, so for hotels, beaches and others that regulate how these places should be kept and run from a healthcare point of view.
“They’ll see gels available but the experience will not be radically different.”
Asked about changing plans for British tourists, the Spanish Minister insisted Madrid was committed to bringing all visitors back at the same time but wanted to ensure safety measures were in place to avoid contagion.
He added: “Spain has always wanted to open the border as soon as possible.
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“We established a plan, we were working with the regions to do two things.
“One, bring the numbers of the disease down within the regions and also build health capacity needed for the management of the disease forward.
“The Government now we are fully ready to open our national border because those capacities are in place and the disease is under control across the Spanish territory.”
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But despite Spain reopening its borders and tourist attractions to Britons, UK travellers have admitted some concerns about holidays abroad this summer.
An online survey of 1,493 Express.co.uk carried out on Sunday found a majority of respondents is planning to have their summer break in the UK in 2020.
Just 20 percent (277 people) had decided to take a foreign holiday this year despite the re-opening of many tourist destinations across the world.
But the vast majority of 79 percent (1,196 people) said they were not considering a holiday abroad because of the coronavirus pandemic this year
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