Spain to reopen to foreign tourists in July

Greek and Cypriot authorities have intimated they will not initially reopen their borders to national from countries that remain a significant coronavirus risk.

Greece’s tourism minister Harry Theoharis last week said he did not initially expect the UK to be on the country’s tourism whitelist.

Spain is yet to announce any country-specific restrictions on its plans to reopen to tourists. However, Sanchez said Britons would be able to book their holidays from July.

The country is also working on two new tourism standards; one covering health and safely, and another environmental sustainability.

Spain attracts around 80 million tourists a year, 18 million from the UK – its largest market.

Any Britons planning to head to Spain as soon as the restrictions are lifted may yet fall foul of the UK’s own 14-day quarantine on arrival requirement, which will come into force on 8 June.

The government has said the rules will be reviewed every three weeks, meaning it is possible the restriction could be lifted before July. No timeframe has been set on the policy.