Britishholidaymakers got a much-needed boost in Thursday’s traffic light review, which added Malta, Madeira and the Balearic Islands to the quarantine-free travel register.
A swathe of Caribbean islands including Barbados and Antigua were also added to the green list, which now numbers 27 territories in total – although most are inaccessible to Britons.
However, all new additions bar Malta have been added to the as-yet-unused “green watchlist”, which signals they are at risk of turning amber.
Former vaccine star Israel has also been shifted down a notch to the green watchlist.
As has become comically customary, a random assortment of inaccessible overseas territories were also thrown in: notably the Pitcairn Islands, deep in the South Pacific, and British Antarctic Territory, which has no permanent residents.
The green list changes will come into effect from 4am on 30 June. From that date, holidaymakers returning from those nations need not quarantine, but must instead take just one post-arrival PCR test.
In further encouraging signs for UK holidaymakers, the government confirmed its intention to allow fully vaccinated travellers to skip quarantine when arriving from amber-listed countries, although they will still be required to take a test.
It intends this change to take effect from “later in the summer”, and will provide further details in July.
However, the travel industry reacted angrily that the review didn’t go further.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, described the chaotic revelation of the expanded “green list” as “disgraceful”.
