Spain, Portugal to suspend travel from UK

OVIEDO, Spain

Spain and Portugal will suspend travel from the UK from Tuesday, the respective governments confirmed on Monday.

The two nations are following the steps of other major European countries, which have announced travel bans amid worries of a new coronavirus variant that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said may be "up to 70%” more transmissible than the earlier strains.

The decision came after an emergency European Union meeting to discuss the new variant, Spain’s government said in a tweet.

Portugal and Spain will continue to allow national citizens or legal residents in the countries to travel from the UK. Spain requires all arrivals to present a negative coronavirus test upon entry, but the Portuguese government said it will begin performing tests in airports for anyone coming from the UK.

The Spanish government also said its border with Gibraltar “will be reinforced” after the British government announced Monday that the new strain has been detected there as well.

Earlier Monday, Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa said the new strain has not been detected in Spain, but did not rule out the possibility that it is circulating.

Over the weekend, 277 flights from the UK landed in Spain and another 102 are expected on Monday.

The digital Spanish daily El Independiente reports that one man, Victor, arrived Saturday with a negative PCR test to the Madrid airport, although he was not asked to present any documentation by airport authorities.

But on Monday, Victor woke up with a fever and tested positive for the virus in an antigen test. Whether or not it is the new variant has not been confirmed.

“I’m sure I won’t be the only one,” he told the daily.

Illa told the radio station Rac1 that the new variant will not alter Spain’s current anti-COVID measures, which are some of the most relaxed in Europe for the holiday season.

“As far as I know, the vaccine is effective against the new British strain of coronavirus,” said Illa.

Several regions of Spain have seen infection rates rising over the past week, most markedly the Balearic and Canary Islands, Madrid, and Valencia.