Brits told not to travel to Ibiza, Majorca and Canary Islands as Foreign Office updates advice

28 July 2020, 07:37

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By Polly Foreman

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all but essential travel to all areas of Spain.

Brits have been advised against travelling to the Balearic and Canary Islands, after the government updated their travel advice for Spain yesterday.

Read more: Martin Lewis issues urgent travel advice for those going on holiday to Spain

Over the weekend, the Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to the country - but this had previously excluded the Spanish Islands.

Read the Foreign Office advice here

Yesterday, however, the likes of Ibiza, Tenerife, Majorca, Menorca and Lanzarote were officially added to the list.

The official government advice reads: "From 27 July, the FCO advise against all non-essential travel to Spain, including the Balearic and Canary Islands, based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks in the country."

And a spokesperson said: "We have considered the overall situation for British nationals travelling to and from the Balearic and Canary Islands, including the impact of the requirement to self-isolate on return to the UK, and concluded that we should advise British nationals against all non-essential travel to the whole of Spain."

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The new advice now applies to all areas of mainland Spain, as well as the Canary Islands - such as Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, La Graciosa and El Hierro – and the Balearic Islands – such as Majorca, Ibiza, Menorca, and Formentera.

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Anyone returning from any area of Spain will have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival, in line with government guidelines introduced on Sunday (26 July).

The new rule came after a spike in coronavirus cases in Spain, with a government spokesperson saying: "The Joint Biosecurity Centre together with Public Health England (PHE) have updated their coronavirus assessments of Spain based on the latest data.

"As a result, Spain has been removed from the lists of countries from which passengers arriving in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are exempted from the need to self-isolate.

"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. Both our list of quarantine exemptions and the Foreign Office travel advice are being updated to reflect these latest risk assessments."

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