Spain will lift travel ban on UK travellers from March 30
SPAIN is going to lift a ban on travel from Britain at the end of the month.
The ban started in December, over concerns about a British strain of the coronavirus.
The announcement was made by government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero at a press conference today, when she revealed that travel restrictions would continue until April 13 for Brazil and South Africa.
However, the travel restrictions will be lifted for the UK because of the success of our vaccination drive.
Spain has already revealed that tourists who have vaccine passports to prove they have had the Covid jabs could travel to the country as soon as May.
Spain's tourism minister Reyes Maroto said that the country could start using the vaccine passport in May, when the international tourism fair FITUR is due to take place in Madrid.
However, it means little for Brits who are currently banned from going on taking foreign breaks, and people living in England and Wales face an official holiday ban in law from Monday - with the risk of a £5,000 fine for escaping.
Under new Covid laws in England and Wales, which were published by ministers yesterday, people across the country will be officially banned from leaving the country without a reasonable excuse.
Previously the holiday ban was implied, as it was not one of the reasons people are allowed to leave their homes, but new laws come in on Monday as part of lockdown rules being lifted.
Brits already have to also fill out a form if they do want to leave the country, stating their permitted reason to do so, or they will face a £200 fine for not having the right paperwork.
In February, Boris Johnson announced that international travel would be given a start date on April 12 - and it could resume by May 17, in time for the May holidays, but it has also been expected that June 21 could be the start date, in time for summer holidays.
But now quarantine-free holidays may not be allowed to most European countries until as late as August or September - though no final decisions have yet been made.
Yesterday, it was suggested that all holiday hotspots could all be placed on the high risk list this summer, which would include popular destinations such as Greece, Spain and Portugal.
Health minister Lord Bethell said Britain’s neighbours could be put on the no-go list as he accused them of “rejecting” vaccination.
He said: "We are watching with enormous sadness the sight of our European neighbours rejecting the vaccine policy.
"They are not embracing the opportunity that a vaccine provides for driving down infection rates and protecting their populations.
"But we are all aware that the possibility lies that we will have to red list all of our European neighbours."
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However, Matt Hancock refuted the claims on the BBC Today programme this morning, saying: "We don't want to [close all of Europe]. We have hope on the horizon and can see the way out.
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"At the moment, the measures at the border are proving successful in keeping this country sage.
"New variants here are very low and is very important. We want to get to a point where we can release these restrictions."