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Spain remains on UK's quarantine-free amber list for travel

The Local Spain
The Local Spain - [email protected]
Spain remains on UK's quarantine-free amber list for travel
Tourists in Madrid in June 2021. Photo: Gabriel Buoys/AFP

The UK government announced on Thursday evening that all of Spain including its islands will stay on the amber list, allowing fully vaccinated people to continue to avoid quarantine when travelling to the UK.

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Spain will continue on the UK’s amber list from Monday August 30th following the latest review by the British government and the UK's Global Travel Taskforce, the agency responsible for helping to set out the travel rules for the country.

Reports in the British press had previously hinted Spain was unlikely to go on the UK’s red list, as the falling fortnightly infection rate (277 cases per 100,000 people) during the past weeks and high vaccination rate (67,9 percent fully vaccinated) means it has put the worst of its fifth coronavirus wave behind it. 

However, the fact that in mid-August one in 35 travellers arriving in the UK from Spain were found to have Covid-19 caused fears Spain would be included in the UK’s red list.

READ ALSO: What happens when tourists get Covid-19 while on holiday in Spain?

This would have meant travellers arriving from Spain had to stay at a government-run quarantine hotel for ten days and pay £1,750 (€2,046) per person.

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But finally Spain - including the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands - remains on the UK’s amber list as it has been for most of 2021. 

Overall there were few changes to this latest update of the UK’s travel rules.

Switzerland, Denmark, Portugal’s Azores, Finland and Canada are among the countries joining the green list following the government’s latest review of its traffic light system for travel abroad.

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According to the UK government website, all travellers heading to England from Spain have to take a Covid test (PCR recommended) in the 3 days before travel, book and pay for Covid tests to be taken on arrival in the UK and complete a passenger locator form.  

After arriving in England, fully vaccinated travellers must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2.

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This applies if you’re fully vaccinated under either “the UK vaccination programme, the UK vaccine programme overseas, an approved vaccination programme in Europe or the USA - not all are recognised in England”.

READ MORE: UK changes travel rules again to impose quarantine on European arrivals who had mixed vaccine doses

Travellers who aren’t fully vaccinated travelling to England from Spain have to quarantine at home or at their chosen accommodation for 10 days, take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8. 

If you’re in England for less than 10 days, you need to quarantine for your whole stay but you may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.

The UK updates its traffic light travel list approximately every three weeks.

The travel-traffic light changes announced by Scotland are virtually the same as are the travel requirements, which you can check here. For the rules for travel from an amber country to Wales click here and for Northern Ireland here

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