UK To Announce Safe Travel ‘Green List’ This Week
Spain News
Published: 04 May 2021 15:08 CET
With the holiday season upon us and the uncertainty of travel, a newly released report has given a glimmer of hope as it suggests that several European countries may soon be added to the UK’s safe travel 'green list'.
The complete list may still not be finalised but reports suggest that around 10 or 12 countries could be on it.
According to the Telegraph, countries such as France, Greece and Spain are set to be included on the Government’s safe list for international travel by the end of June.
An announcement regarding foreign travel is expected at some point this week. It is believed that just a ‘handful’ of countries will be put on the green list from May 17, which means that anyone travelling to one of those countries from the UK will not be required to self isolate when they return home.
Other countries which are expected to be given a green status include Gibraltar, Iceland, Israel and Malta.
It is reported, however, that the government will still conduct a three-weekly review of the list.
A source who spoke to the Telegraph said "It's a rolling, evolving list that is going to start off cautiously but could start to change quickly. It is not like a one-off list that affects the totality of the summer. It will update and other countries will be added.”
The newspaper publication also added that internal EU figures show that by the May target date France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain will be in a position to fully vaccinate 55 per cent of their population.
The European Commission says it is proposing to allow entry "for non-essential reasons not only for all persons coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation but also all people who have received the last recommended dose of an EU-authorised vaccine."
This news comes after a source from Downing Street spoke to The Times and said "June will look a lot more like normal, many of the traditional holiday destinations will be on the list by then."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke about foreign travel while on a recent campaign trip to Hartlepool, he said "We do want to do some opening up on May 17 but I don't think that the people of this country want to see an influx of disease from anywhere else.
"I certainly don't, and we have got to be very, very tough, and we have got to be as cautious as we can, whilst we continue to open up.
“We will be saying more as soon as we can,” he concluded.
International trade minister Liz Truss (pictured) spoke to Sky News saying "We are doing all we can to make sure we follow the roadmap and open up the economy and travel gradually.
"The really important thing is we don't move too fast and jeopardise the progress we have made - so people will have to wait a bit longer to be able to hear the news on what is happening on the travel front."
She also said that she would encourage people to wait before booking a holiday so they can see what the "details are based on the data".
“The government fully supports safe travel but we need to be cautious to make sure that we are not simply importing the virus after we have successfully dealt with it in Britain". She added. "If we are able to have people go on holiday, I don't see any reason provided it is safe."
Image Credit: No 10 on Flickr
Source
https://metro.co.uk/2021/05/04/holidays-to-europe-within-weeks-as-spain-and-greece-on-green-list-14515104/
https://www.heart.co.uk/news/spain-greece-and-france-green-list-june/
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-british-holidaymakers-could-be-allowed-to-travel-to-europe-within-weeks-12294535
