Quarantine if you arrive from Spain from midnight 25/7/2020
 

Sky news reporting that all passengers arriving from Spain from midnight tonight will have to quarantine for 14 days

oh dear me not good news

Particularly bad for those currently in Spain as they have had no warning.

Nevertheless, we all knew it was a possibility. I’m now glad we gave up hope of a Spanish holiday this year.

TUI cancelled all holidays to Spain now I believe

All thanks to Michael O Leary starting flights too early and putting pressure on the Government to drop the quarantine

I think you might find that the actions of the Spanish/Catalan population have been a factor too, rather than the spike in cases being due entirely to arriving Ryanair passengers ...

Do we need a second thread as there is already a coronavirus thread?

There is, however this is a major reversal of policy that will likely have a devastating impact on recovery of our industry

Until there is a vaccine or cure there are going to be continued outbreaks every so often. This is going to make planning and booking future foreign flights very difficult.

Many people had the mindset that the virus was over in Spain. Well the map shows it isn’t as the red zones are increasing daily.

https://i.imgur.com/kL6LOna.jpg

Mixed message on the BBC as they contradicted themselves. They said that the quarantine also applies to the Spanish Islands but non essential travel applies only to the mainland.

Gov.UK Foreign Travel Advice:

From 26 July, the FCO advises against all non-essential travel to mainland Spain based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks. Only the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Graciosa) and Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera) are exempt from the FCO advice against all non-essential international travel.

This advice is based on evidence of increases in cases of COVID-19 in several regions, but particularly in Aragon, Navarra and Catalonia (which include the cities of Zaragoza, Pamplona and Barcelona).

The FCO is not advising those already travelling in Spain to leave at this time. Travellers should follow the advice of the local authorities on how best to protect themselves and others, including any measures that they bring in to control the virus. If you are returning from Spain (including from the Balearics and Canaries) on or after 26 July you will be required to quarantine on your return to the UK, but the FCO is not advising you to cut short your visit. You should contact your tour operator or airline if you have any questions about your return journey.

I’m currently on holiday in Majorca (granted it’s not mainland) and there’s hardly anyone here. I feel a darn site safer here than at home.

That reporting by the BBC is correct, FCO advise is against all but essential travel to mainland Spain. But the quarantine on return applies to the mainland and all the islands. That has changed 3 times in the last 2 hours, but is the current requirement.

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, flew to Spain this morning. He will now be subject to his own quarantine rules when he returns from holiday!

Was Patel with the policy IIRC but Shapps with the air bridge idea... which ultimately let him down, although dare say he will be exempt due to his job.

As someone currently in Spain down on the Costas , one can only despair for the local economy and the airlines . I expect there will be a lot more of this to come , local lockdowns and last minute cancellations. As this is an aviation website , I feel
it appropriate to point out this will decimate our industry as no one in their right mind is going to book a flight anywhere if they fear doors being bolted behind them.
Someone needs to start knocking heads together and get a grip on this .

Knocking whose heads together? What has happened is the consequence of Spain relaxing rules and people not following prevention measures. Like America, Spain is suffering because of the actions of mainly young people. There are also plenty of videos online of middle aged Brits in holiday mode not following best practice when they have a few beers inside them.

It does appear that when people go on Holiday they leave their brains at home.....

He only went to Spain to test his eyesight ...

Spain is not suffering. Take off your media goggles. There are areas where there is a spike, this is being dealt with to prevent further spread. Isolated areas do not constitute a whole country - we here didn't call out the UK when Leicester was locked down.

Very good example. Why quarantine people coming from the areas which are exempt from the FCO advice against non-essential travel? There is probably a sound reason behind said exemption, namely that the situation there is a long way better than in Catalonia, Aragon or the other affected mainland areas. Tour operators and airlines should demand clarification on this matter.

Worth looking again at the map on post 8 which is Spanish and not sourced from the U.K.. Infections are increasing fast and are no longer stabilised. There is a lag from infection to showing symptoms and getting tested.

According to news they have about 280 clusters reported alone at the moment; although do think the Balearics and Canaries should be exempt at the moment at least.

Absolute bullcrap.

There are some areas in Spain where there are high increases, mainly due to some very high cluster cases, but almost ALL of them in Aragon and Catalonia.
The Generalidad Valencia for example has sen only a slight increase in caseload, and measures have been taken immediately.

his is again another imbecile UK reaction. They should better look at their own people not adhering to the laws in Spain and in the UK itself.

Isn't it easy to snipe from the sidelines when you have no responsibility? How does the UK govt control it citizens in Spain? Stop them travelling?

No doubt the same suspects here would be the first to criticise the government if their reaction was slow. Maybe the government has been watching a few YouTube clips and have been proactive.


With a partial restriction no doubt the BBC would be sending a news team to the hidden line saying this side is deemed safe by the U.K. government and this side requires quarantine, while everyone switches airports.

All for a virus which appears to have an overall survivability rate of better then 99.7%.

LTNman

The government is damned if they do, and damned if they don't. Over face masks they got a kicking for delaying their introduction; now they're getting a kicking for acting swiftly. The media, and the people, can't have it both ways.

Lets just hope a vaccine comes sooner rather than later as this is going to be the new norm otherwise there will be no tourist industry left to save.

lear999wa.......agreed. Our response can’t be the same as it has been otherwise we will destroy the very fabric of society and our economy. We should fear poverty and social breakdown more. A far more sensible balanced approach is needed.

Does anyone else feel like the uk government has no leader, just lots of politicians shouting out off the cuff policies without even talking to each other first? :ugh:

You're totally right. It's very superficial to think that "it's only tourism, hospitality and airlines taking the hit". When 20% of all people in a country don't have jobs any longer, two things happen. First, the state has to spend loads of money providing some form of unemployment benefits to them - and the state money is not unlimited, especially in times of reduced budget income from taxes. Second, those people severely cut back on their discretional spending. It's not just that they don't go on holidays. They also refrain from buying clothes, gadgets, going to the cinema or eating out - not to mention that unemployed people don't normally buy cars or buy and furnish homes. This results in a massive decline for many industries, eventually leading to further bankruptcies and job losses. And the spiral keeps going down. Does a country in such a dire predicament have the resources to also ramp up its health care system? I think not. So, the economic crisis has the potential of also deepening the health care one. Hence, blanket bans shall not be a thing if we are to come out of this as a functional society with minimal losses.

Totally agree with you ATNotts

I have some sympathy for the government in this unprecedented situation (since 1918/19 anyway), but I agree that the standard of leadership has been poor. I wonder if the PM is fully recovered from the virus and his eminence grise Dominic Cummings is, at best, eccentric. Whilst some Cabinet ministers have performed well others have been lamentable. The failure to address the crisis facing the aviation sector of the UK has been alarming compared with the actions of other countries such as the USA ($25 billion), Germany (9 billion Euros), France (15 billion Euros) and Italy.

I think what I find most disappointing is the governments blanket approach to Spain. Most of the Canaries and Balearics have very low incidents of Covid-19. So why lump them in with the rest of Spain? I understand that you can travel to Palma from Barcelona and then travel to the UK, but that the same for Barcelona via anywhere in Europe. You’re relying on people being sensible and following the rules, because they are pretty much unenforceable. And if thats the case, you can be very nuanced in how you approach travel bans.

I think one of the contributing factors is that the whole of Spain will go on holiday this week. Having lived there for 4 years the right to spend August on the beach is almost a Spanish human right. Madrid will empty this week as they head in all directions of the compass to the beach. It would not surprise me if Spain sees a massive surge next week.

Utter insanity. Devastating airline and ancillary industries. No thought, logic or common sense. At least why can’t the Balearics and Canaries be exempt? We can’t continue to lockdown indefinitely because it is unaffordable. Take suitable precautions, don’t balloon to 20 stone, wash your hands and get on with life using sensible risk management. Hopeless uk governance.

Spot on! This virus will be here for decades, and will become endemic in the human population. The sooner we learn to live with it, the better.

Why should the UK government join other countries in actively financially supporting its air transport sector? Just look at the economics of this. The air transport industry, including airlines and its supply chain, are estimated to support US $86 billion of GDP in the United Kingdom. Spending by foreign tourists supports a further US $34 billion of the country’s GDP, amounting to 4.5% of the annual GDP of the UK. Enough said.

Idiot Govt thinking............... Canary Islands is Spain so lock it down, infections rising in Catalonia so must be close as it is also Spain. It is the equivalent for locking down Shetland Islands because there has been a huge spike in cases in Newquay

If the quarantine rule was to be applied to all of Turkey because of an outbreak in Ankara, would people about to travel to Spain be complaining so much ?