Spain has joined the list of countries to ban flights from the UK because of the new mutant strain of coronavirus.
The ban will start on Tuesday December 22.
A tweet from Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation said: “The Government of #Spain, together with #Portugal, will suspend from tomorrow the entry into the Spanish territory of citizens from the #UnitedKingdom, except nationals or residents in our country.
“Border control in #Gibraltar will also be strengthened.”
The Spanish government’s Twitter feed added: “The Executive adopts this decision after the meeting of the EU crisis mechanism, which today analyzed the effects of the new strain of #COVID19 detected in the UK.”
GBC News in Gibraltar also reported on Twitter: “#BREAKING: Spain bans all travel from the UK, except for Spanish nationals and residents. New measures to begin on Tuesday.
“#BREAKING – Statement from Spain confirms reinforcement of controls at border will apply as a result of latest measures.”
The announcement follows widespread bans imposed by other European countries yesterday.
The festive period ban on UK arrivals and departures from a growing number of countries seeking to combat a faster spreading variant of Covid-19 could cost at least £400 million.
The “conservative” estimate covers lost bookings, refunds and crisis costs involved in dealing with the situation affecting an estimated 250,000 outbound and inbound travellers until January 1.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of The Advantage Travel Partnership, reiterated calls for government support, saying the “industry could not survive much more downtime” following the bans.
She said: “Public health and safety will always come first and we fully understand that countries must approach news of a new strain of Covid-19 with caution.
“However, we cannot hide behind the fact that with over 40 countries now having closed their borders to Brits and with Spain now following, this is another blow to the industry and the travel agents at the coal-face of the crisis.”
She added: “Whilst we remain optimistic for the new year and the news of the vaccine, travel agents have already missed out on nine months of income. We are approaching what would be the peak season for booking customers for their summer holidays and beyond, which is the equivalent to what Christmas is to the hospitality sector.
“The industry cannot survive much more downtime without the government recognising the crisis it faces. The industry will have to deal with the immediate fallout from borders closing and restrictions put in place by stepping up and looking after their clients, but it is imperative that we have action now from the government, particularly with Brexit looming.
“We need urgent aid, urgent attention and we need them to recognise the significant impact the travel industry has to the wider UK economy.”
Other developments include:
- The government of India announced that all flights from the UK to India will be suspended from 22 December 2020 (23.59 hours IST) until 31 December 2020 (23.59 hours IST). Passengers arriving into India from the UK before the December 22 deadline will be subject to a mandatory RT-PCR test on arrival.
- Sweden has confirmed its travel ban on UK arrivals, excluding Swedish citizens, which will come into effect at midnight (23.00 GMT).
- Russia said it would suspend all flights to and from the UK for a week from midnight on Tuesday.