TUI plans to suspend Spain programme if govt reimposes quarantine

TUI says it’s closely monitoring government advice following concerns that English holidaymakers returning from Spain could be forced to self-isolate for 14 days due to a spike in coronavirus cases.

The government removed the quarantine requirement for arrivals from Spain – along with more than 60 other countries – on 4 July, allowing package holidays to resume.

But the number of Covid-19 cases in Spain has tripled since the country came out of lockdown, with a further 4,581 cases reported on Monday.

Newspaper reports have suggested the government is reviewing the situation and could reimpose a quarantine on arrivals from next week.

A TUI spokesperson said if this happens, it will suspend its programme to Spain.

"As per our TUI Holiday Promise, we won’t take customers on holiday if we know they’re required to quarantine on arrival or on their return home," she said.

"We’re closely monitoring government advice and should this change, we’ll adapt our holiday programme and proactively contact all impacted customers to discuss their options.

"If a customer’s holiday can’t go ahead due to Covid-19, they’ll have the option to receive a refund credit note for the full value of their holiday or a cash refund."

Spain currently has more than 260,000 confirmed cases of the virus, which has led to more than 28,000 deaths.

The Foreign Office updated its travel advice for Spain today to warn that local authorities in parts of Catalonia, including some areas of Barcelona, have asked residents only to leave their accommodation for essential activities. Meetings of more than 10 people are banned, and nightclubs have been ordered to close. Retrictions have been placed on the opening hours of bars and restaurants. The measures are in place till 1 August.

In future, the UK government suggested to The Sun newspaper that instead of reviewing its list of safe destinations every three weeks, it will ‘look for a system where countries come on and off as and when we see spikes or drops in cases’.

This could pose a headache for tour operators who would have to pause their programmes with little or no notice.

Ironically, Scotland, which left Spain off its list of safe destinations, has just announced that it is going to allow quarantine-free travel to Spain from this week.

By Linsey McNeil, Editor (UK)