An additional four Riu hotels will open over the coming weeks, ready to meet demand for Christmas getaways.

These include Riu Palace Jandia in Fuerteventura, Riu Vistamar and Riu Palace Meloneras in Gran Canaria, and Riu Arecas in Tenerife.

Riu Palace Jandia will reopen as a five-star hotel on Saturday (5 December), offering new facilities and services on a half-board basis.

All 201 rooms have been renovated, while new fusion restaurant Krystal expands the hotel’s dining options.

Elsewhere, the property’s main restaurant now features an outdoor terrace, while the sun deck has room for an additional 100 loungers offering beach views.

The all-inclusive Riu Vistamar hotel will open alongside Riu Palace Jandia, followed by the adults-only Riu Arecas on 11 December and Riu Palace Meloneras on 19 December.

"This Christmas, with these four hotels, Riu’s guests will have the choice of 11 hotels of the 17 the chain has in the Canary Islands," said the firm.

The government of the Canary Islands is reportedly looking at softening its pre-travel Covid testing requirements to help tourism resume, including accepting cheaper, quicker antigen test results as proof of Covid-negative status, as opposed to PCR tests.