Rising COVID-19 cases are making countries nervous and as more and more countries face a second wave of the pandemic, policy decisions are moving in disarray and fault lines are being exposed. Europe is witnessing all of this. After a unanimous decision by almost all major countries in the block earlier this month on opening EU countries for the foreign travellers, travel to Spain has become a new point of discontent.
Firstly, it was UK when the British Government announcing that tourists returning from Spain will have to self-isolate for two weeks. In a massive blow for holidaymakers and the travel industry, restrictions were reimposed following an alarming spike in Covid-19 cases. As a result, Spain was removed from the lists of countries from which passengers arriving in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are exempted from the need to self-isolate. Industry analysts said that this sudden announcement will make British holidaymakers nervous about traveling to any country in case there is a sudden rise in COVID-19 infections, and a subsequent sudden change in rules.
GlobalData’s Recovery Consumer Survey Results state that 82% of Brits are still extremely or quite concerned about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, meaning residents will take government advice seriously. According to GlobalData, the UK made up nearly a quarter (23.3%) of all international arrivals to Spain in 2019, highlighting the significant impact that the Foreign Office’s advice will have on the country’s tourism recovery. However, the advice is not only a cause for concern for Spain.
The timing of the Foreign Office announcement could not be worse for tourism companies. July and August are by far the most popular months of travel for British tourists as it is the peak of summer and falls within the school summer holidays. For Spain, and possibly more European markets to miss out on this vital period will be devastating for companies. A summer without British tourists could make it extremely difficult for many companies to survive the quiet winter months. Unsurprisingly, the government’s advice has come under significant criticism from tourism bodies. But not just Britain, Belgium and Germany also advised their citizens not to travel to Aragon and a few other regions in Spain.
Spain reacted angrily on the development. Spain depends on summer visits by sun-seeking northern Europeans, is facing a major blow to any hopes of reviving its economy. Tourism accounts for just over 12% of Spain’s GDP and nearly 13% of jobs. A recent survey has said that over 80 per cent of Germans intending to travel abroad in times of corona said they wanted to holiday before the end of the year and Spain was their preferred destination (with the Canaries at the top of the list), followed by Italy, France and Austria. But, the country lost one million jobs between April and June, its biggest ever quarterly decline, and fears steeper losses as the summer season crashes.
The northern Spanish Aragon region said the no-travel advisories were “discriminatory”. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said it was a mistake for Britain to have considered Spain’s overall coronavirus rate rather than having a granular, regional approach. Britain stood firm, extending travel advisory against travel in mainland Spain to the Canary and Balearic islands. A senior official in the government of Spain’s Aragon region, Mayte Perez, said no-travel advisories issued by Belgium and Germany to their citizens were discriminatory.
Spain also seems to be making amends. Spain’s capital city has made wearing face masks mandatory at all placed at all times. Bars in Madrid have been ordered to close at 1 am, and gatherings at outdoor restaurant terraces has been capped at 10 people. The new rule, which has already been introduced in all of Spain’s 17 regions with the exception of the Canary Islands, came into effect on Thursday. The initiative comes after the Madrid region reported a sharp rise in weekly coronavirus cases. Regional authorities in Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia have also introduced restrictions on night-time activities, which have been linked to the recent surge in coronavirus cases. In the Catalonia region – home to Barcelona –all nightclubs have been ordered to close for 15 days and put a midnight curfew on bars in the greater Barcelona area and other towns around Lleida that have become contagion hot zones.
The announcement from UK about the removal of a so-called “air bridge” with Spain came only a day after a further five countries were added to the quarantine-free list for people travelling to England. Travelers from Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and St Vincent and the Grenadines were now not required to isolate for two weeks on arrival. Although, popular holiday destinations including Portugal, Thailand and the United States remain notable absentees.
Meanwhile, EU officials have announced that the citizens of Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, China will now be able to travel in the Schengen Zone. According to the officials, the borders of the European Union will be open for the citizens of those countries only on ‘mutual terms’ – the authorities of these countries must agree to let Europeans to travel to their territory.
While the list was being updated, three countries have disappeared from it. So, the citizens of Algeria, Montenegro and Serbia again have been banned from entering European Union territory. These exclusions are due to the deterioration of the epidemiological situation in these countries, EU officials said.
On the other hand, government of Sweden has also canceled travel advice to its citizens against travelling to four European states. Stockholm said it would stop advising against non-essential travel to neighbors Norway and Denmark, as well as to Switzerland and the Czech Republic. The officials said that the decision to scrap restrictions was made amid signs that COVID-19 infections are falling. Although, current travel restrictions for other countries within the European Union and the United Kingdom would remain until August 12. Sweden had decided to forgo a hard lockdown and kept most schools and businesses open throughout the coronavirus outbreak, a strategy that has set it apart from most of Europe.
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