Brits queue for Covid tests in Ibiza and race to fly home before Balearic Islands are added to amber list on Monday
BRITS have been queuing for Covid tests in Ibiza as they race to fly home before the Balearic Islands are added to the UK’s amber list on Monday.
Holidaymakers are desperate as any non-vaccinated British travellers will have to quarantine for 10 days after returning from the islands.
Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca have all been struck off the green list after the Balearic Islands were downgraded to the UK’s ‘amber’ travel list.
The Government has infuriated travellers, and been accused of “double standards” on international travel.
The criticism came after it was announced that Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca would be added to the amber travel list due to a surge in coronavirus cases, little more than a fortnight after they went green.
The change for those returning to England, Scotland and Wales from Spain’s Balearic Islands will take place at 4am on Monday, July 19.
The surprise announcement has sparked a surge in holidaymakers flocking to airports in the holiday hotspot to return to avoid the need to quarantine.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the change was due to Covid case rates having doubled since the Balearics were added to the green list on June 30.
This means that the holiday plans of unjabbed Brits who have already booked trips abroad lie in tatters.
Mr Shapps said: “Travel is not the same as it was before the global pandemic.
“Clearly if you’re booking to a green watch list country you need to make sure you can get your money back and change accommodation.”
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Brit holidaymakers must book refundable trips, as destinations risk being suddenly struck off the green list, Mr Shapps has warned this week.
His announcement has sparked a mad dash to get home for younger holidaymakers who have not yet received both doses of the Covid jab.
Double-jabbed Brits coming back after the switch will not have to isolate.
But they will still need to take a test before their return to the UK, and on the second day after getting home.
Infections on the islands have soared to 258 cases per 100,000 people.
Kids will also be exempt from isolation but those without a vaccine passport will have to spend ten days at home, and take three expensive PCR tests.
Travellers will be able to prove their vaccine status on their NHS app.
Brits can still travel to the islands by showing their app, or proving they have had a negative test 72 hours before travel.
It means the Costas of Spain and the campsites of France will remain off limits to the un-vaccinated as they will remain amber.
The islands of Malta and Madeira, are currently on the green or green watch list.
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Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, noted that Covid infection rates were rising in the UK but remained lower across much of Europe.
“So we cannot understand why the Government is going to allow people to go to a nightclub – without a mask or social distancing – and yet is not comfortable with people going to the beaches of Europe, where the infection rates are lower than in the UK,” Mr Lundgren said.
“Yet again we see this double standard where travel is treated differently to the domestic economy.”
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