Tourists welcome in Spain ‘as soon as possible’, with lockdown ‘lifted in June’
Holidaymakers will be welcomed back to Spain “as soon as possible”, but only when safe to do so, the country’s foreign minister has said.
Spain was among the European countries worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak, and introduced lockdown measures on March 14.
Foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said cities with high concentrations of Covid-19 infection – such as Madrid and Barcelona – remain under stricter rules than more rural areas, but that the country will reopen to visitors at the earliest possible opportunity.
However, she was unable to say whether Spain could welcome tourists by the summer.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are hoping to get tourists back as soon as possible but we are also conscious that, when we welcome them, we want to provide the safest destination in Europe.
“We want to make sure when they come they can continue to experience the amazing stay in Spain, whether they love sports or culture or cuisine or simply like our weather.
Lockdown measures in Spain have reflected its high numbers of casualties, with children confined indoors for six weeks between March and the end of April.
Ms Gonzalez said: “We’ve had one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe, but hope to end lockdown by the end of June.
“We are putting health first, making sure when we open the country first to Spaniards and then to tourists, everybody will be safe.”
And she said she hoped two-week quarantines imposed on travellers coming into the country would be relaxed in favour of less restrictive measures in time to welcome tourists.
In Ireland, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last week confirmed a 14-day self-isolation period would be mandatory for all passengers arriving at Irish ports or airports, with citizens required to fill out a form on where they will be staying.
“The moment we feel that the virus is under control, we will replace quarantine with other measures at the border.”
Foreign travel has been severely affected by international restrictions, with airline companies grounding planes and making drastic cuts to their routes.
Ryanair, one of the main carriers to Spain, last week said it planned to restore 40% of its whole flight programme from July.
There have been signs of optimism from Europe, however, with countries including Italy and Greece signalling their intention to welcome travellers early next month.
