According to the latest coronavirus data, most of the major Spanish tourist destinations, including the Balearic and Canary islands, have recorded lower rates of Covid-19 cases than the UK during past week.

But operators and airlines are now cancelling holidays and flights after the FCO advised against all non-essential travel to Spain, with the UK-Spain “travel corridor” quarantine exemption also being revoked after just three weeks.

Javier Pinanes, UK director at the Spanish Tourist Office, said: “Work is being carried out between the Spanish and British authorities so that decisions are made or adjusted based exclusively on epidemiological criteria.”

Pinanes said the current Covid rate of infection for the Canaries was just 2.4 per 100,000 people, while this number was 11.3 in the Balearic islands – both well below the average for the whole of Spain.

Other areas such as Andalucia, which includes the tourist hotspot of Costa del Sol, plus Valencia region and northern destinations such as Asturias, Galicia and Cantabria had either lower or similar Covid rates as the UK.

“In the last seven days, 10 people have sadly died across the whole of Spain due to coronavirus however most holiday destinations have not reported any recent deaths and have low incident rates,” added Pinanes.

He said the Spanish tourism industry was “well prepared” to receive visitors with measures in place to ensure trips can continue in the “most safe, secure and hygienic manner”.

“The sector has made a huge effort to adapt over recent weeks and has managed to implement effective measures to guarantee safety,” said Pinanes.