Spain travel corridor revoked after just three weeks

"The Joint Biosecurity Centre, together with Public Health England, have updated their coronavirus assessments of Spain based on the latest data," said a government spokesperson.

"As a result, Spain has been 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."

They added: "Protecting public health is our absolute priority, and we have taken this decision to limit any potential spread to the UK.

"We’ve always been clear that we would act immediately to remove a country where necessary. Both our list of quarantine exemptions and the FCO travel advice are being updated to reflect these latest risk assessments."

Clarifying the discrepancy between the decisions by the DfT and FCO, the government added in a statement: "The FCO is advising against all but essential travel to mainland Spain.

"This does not cover the Canary Islands or the Balearic Islands because travel advice is based on the risk to the individual traveller and Covid-19 infection rates are lower there than mainland Spain.

"People will still need to self-isolate when returning from anywhere in Spain, as well as the Canary and Balearic islands, because self-isolation arrangements are put in place on the basis of risk to the UK as a whole."

Employers have been urged to show "understanding" of those returning from Spain, who now will need to self-isolate.

Spain, the UK’s most popular holiday destination, was originally included on England’s 3 July quarantine exemption list – and was added to Scotland’s list this week.

Spain has warned a second wave could be imminent, with cities – including Madrid and Barcelona – reporting significant rises in cases.

Catalonia’s government has said all nightclubs and late-night bars in the region are to close for the next two weeks due to the spike in infections.

The Spanish health ministry reported more than 900 new cases of the virus on Friday (24 July).