British holidaymakers returning from Spain now risk a £1,000 fine

Holidaymakers who fail to self-isolate after returning from Spain risk facing a £1,000 fine. 

As the lockdown restrictions were lifted many people opted for booking a holiday in the sun, with Spain, Italy, Greece and France topping the list of destinations. 

But its bad news for those who are currently in Spain.

From Saturday, Spain was removed from the list of safe countries after concerns the country was experiencing a second wave of coronavirus. This means non-essential travel to Spain is being advised against. 

Health Minister Helen Whatley told the BBC this was the ‘right thing to do’, as the UK must keep the virus rate ‘right down’ to avoid its own second spike.

She urged anyone considering booking a holiday to “be mindful that we are still in the situation of a global pandemic”.

Despite the pandemic, the UK’s move to ask arrivals from Spain to self-isolate for 14 days has caused anger in travellers and travel operators.

British Airways said the move was ‘throwing thousands of Britons’ travel plans into chaos’, while TUI has cancelled all mainland Spanish holidays until August 9th, but those going to Balearic and Canary islands can still travel from today.

Andrew Flintham, the managing director of Tui UK and Ireland, told BBC Breakfast: “We’d really like a nuanced policy, so if there is a travel advice that says you can still go to the Canary Islands and the Balearics, we’d also like to have that backed up with a quarantine that obviously, isn’t in place.

“If there’s a travel advice that says you can’t go, then we believe that clearly the quarantine should be in place.

“If we can have a lined up and regional policy, it will be much easier for us to communicate that to customers.”

Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, has defended the government’s ‘swift decision’, explaining that while he knew it would cause disruption for holidaymakers, the government ‘can’t make apologies’.

According to The PC Agency, around 1.8m people were due to fly from the UK to Spain before the end of August. 

Returning travellers must provide an address where they will self-isolate for 14 days, and failing to do so could result in a fine of up to £1,000.

Within those isolated two weeks, individuals cannot go to work, school or public areas or have any non-essential visitors. They are also advised, where they can, to rely on others to buy food from shops. 

Spain recorded 971 new infections on Thursday, the biggest daily increase since the country’s lockdown ended. The country recorded 922 on Friday.

Despite this, Spain’s foreign minister insists it is safe to visit the country and the outbreaks are ‘perfectly controlled’.

The UK’s Foreign Office states that all but essential travel to mainland Spain (not including the islands) is advised against.

If you are on holiday in Spain currently, continue your holiday and check the Foreign Office’s travel advice regularly. 

Contact your travel provider if you have a trip booked. Anyone arriving from any part of Spain, including the islands, must quarantine for 14 days on their arrival in the UK.