Mainland Portugal and Malta will only allow access to vaccinated British travelers, without quarantine restrictions, amid fears about the delta variant of coronavirus. The tightening of restrictions by Malta came just a day after the Mediterranean island has been added to the UK green list for international travel.
Thus, those traveling to Malta, starting on June 30, will have to self-isolate for a period of 14 days if they cannot prove that they have received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine. The same restrictions will apply to travel from the UK to mainland Portugal, the Foreign Ministry confirmed in an updated travel advice. Mainland Portugal has reached the UK's yellow list after being relegated from the green list on 8 June.
Mainland Portugal and Malta will only allow access to vaccinated British travelers.
However, Britons who have received both doses of a vaccine, at least 15 days before the trip, will be exempted from presenting a PCR test at the entrance to the Portuguese island of Madeira, which will be on the green list from 31 June, along with the Balearic Islands and Caribbean Islands, such as Barbados.
The changes add further confusion to the rules for traveling abroad before the summer season. Certain restrictions are in place to force British tourists to quarantine when traveling anywhere in the EU. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have tried to persuade EU member states to impose a European quarantine rule on people flying in Europe from the UK.
Spain and Greece have rejected the idea of introducing a general ban on tourists from the UK, given their dependence on British tourists. Greek Prime Minister Kyraikos Mitsotakis said that "As far as the delta variant is concerned, we should not adopt a logic of new restrictions, but, on the contrary, speed up vaccinations."
Spain and Greece have rejected the idea of introducing a general ban on tourists from the UK.
In an update, Tui confirmed that it will operate flights to destinations such as Antigua, Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca, Barbados, Grenada, Madeira, Malta, Iceland, Gibraltar and Jersey. The largest operator in the UK continues to serve whitelisted destinations - Corfu, Crete, Cuba, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Kos, Portugal, Rhodes, St Lucia, Tenerife and Zakynthos - where borders are open, taking into account advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
"We are continuously reviewing our holiday schedule and cancellations in accordance with government updates every three weeks, with the next update to be on July 15. We will not operate flights to destinations that will require quarantine on arrival, unless quarantine can be avoided if a PCR test is performed or to destinations on the red list. "
Meanwhile, the new Secretary of Health, Sajid Javid, will also tell parliamentarians when all the restrictions that are still in force in England will be lifted. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the measures would be valid until July 19, but promised a review of the data to see if the removal of the restrictions could be done two weeks earlier, on July 5.