Britons in Spain will have to quarantine for two weeks after surprise announcement

[dutchman]

People arriving back from Spain, the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands from midnight face two weeks in isolation upon returning



Britons arriving back from Spain will have to quarantine for 14 days - after the government added it to the list of at-risk countries with just a few hours' notice.

It means people arriving back from Spain, the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands from midnight - and those who have booked a summer holiday there - face the prospect of two weeks in isolation upon returning.

An announcement was made by the Department for Transport on Saturday evening, with the government asking employers across all four nations to be "understanding" of workers who need to self-isolate.

A UK government spokesperson said: "Following a significant change over the last week in both the level and pace of change in confirmed cases, Spain has been removed from the list of countries where people do not have to self-isolate when arriving into to the UK.

"People currently on holiday in Spain are encouraged to follow the local rules, return home as normal and check the FCO's travel advice pages on gov.uk for further information."

The spokesperson added: "Protecting public health is our absolute priority and we have taken this decision to limit any potential spread to the UK.

"We've always been clear that we would act immediately to remove a country where necessary."

On Friday, Spain logged 922 infections, slightly down from 971 the day before, but officials are tracking more than 280 active outbreaks across the country.

The UK government's announcement has caused disappointment among holidaymakers.

[dutchman]

[dutchman]

Travellers from Belgium, Andorra, and the Bahamas must quarantine in UK



People arriving into the UK from Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra will have to quarantine for 14 days.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the changes start at 04:00 BST on Saturday except in Wales, where they start midnight Thursday.

The countries are the latest to have a change in rules, after quarantines were reimposed for Spain and Luxembourg.

But travellers from Brunei and Malaysia arriving in England and Wales will no longer need to self-isolate.

The transport secretary has previously said he "cannot rule out" other countries being included on the list as the travel advice is kept under review.

People who do not self-isolate when required can be fined up to £1,000 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and those returning to Scotland could be fined £480, with fines up to £5,000 for persistent offenders.

Up to 1.8 million British nationals visit Belgium every year, while 150,000 visit Andorra. The Bahamas, meanwhile, saw more than 36,000 visits from the UK in 2018.

According to figures on Thursday, Belgium has a rate of 49.2 new cases per 100,000 people, above the UK's latest rate of 14.3. For comparison, Spain's rate was 27.4 around the time it was removed from the UK's travel corridor list.

Last week, Belgium introduced new restrictions which mean that people can only meet the same five people outside their household in a month.

Meanwhile, Belgium's neighbour, France, is also seeing a surge in cases.

[Melisandre]

I heard on the TV if those traveling to Spain have to register prior to their health care where you will be given a bar code to down load if you have nt got this prior to going to Spain you will be fined £500.

It mentions registering to their health care on here.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/healthcare- ... ry-islands