British tourists planning to holiday in areas like the Algarve will not be quarantined, the country’s PM Antonio Costa has insisted.
Mr Costa said no parts of mainland Portugal had made people self-isolate when they entered the country and the policy would remain the same.
He spoke out after a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, with the Lisbon region bearing the brunt of the largest rise in three weeks with 350 new positives being notified between Thursday and Friday.
Hotels in Portugal are set to reopen on Monday and beaches on June 6 as the country prepares to welcome foreign holidaymakers.
Algarve tourist chiefs have said the region will be “the place to be” this summer and have said they look forward to the region being the British number one foreign holiday choice.
The UK is not on a list of those eligible to enter Greece on direct flights to Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki from June 15, although the Greek Tourism Ministry is set to expand the list on July 1.
German and not British tourists are the focus of a pilot scheme the Balearic Islands wants Madrid to approve so around 3,000 foreign holidaymakers can enjoy a two-week break in Majorca and neighbouring Ibiza ahead of the return of other nations’ tourists from July 1.
Foreign Ministry sources have told Spanish media visual and temperature checks before they fly and after they arrive are being considered as part of a policy to make sure holidaymakers visiting the Costas are “safe in origin and safe in destination.”
Quarantines have been adopted by Madeira and the Azores.
But Portuguese PM Mr Costa, ruling out any introduction of the controversial quarantine measures which neighbours Spain still have in place, said: “In mainland Portugal the quarantine rules have not been applied and we don’t have any intention of applying them.
“They’ve only been adopted by autonomous regions. The Portuguese government has never adopted them and will never adopt them.”
Former Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, who made headlines by quipping ’Gibraltar Espanol’ in the European Parliament in 2012, has branded Spain’s quarantine measure a “gaffe.”
It is set to be lifted at the end of June but has been highly criticised by hoteliers.
Mr Garcia-Margallo said: “Imposing a quarantine on visitors was a huge gaffe.
“The government refused to accept the severity of the situation and then reacted late.”
He added: “A huge effort will have to be made to recover what’s been lost, but there’s no doubt that not everything can be recuperated.”
