Portugal’s tourism chief has claimed the country is “taking the lead” at the European Council in negotiations aimed at opening up resorts in the EU to UK holidaymakers.
Rita Marques told BBC Breakfast: “We are really pushing hard to open up to third countries like the UK.
“I’m not going to tell you how important is the British market to Portugal. I just want to tell you that the British market is really important to all Europe, and in that sense we are ready to welcome you when you are ready to come.”
She added: “The rules will be pretty much the same all over Europe. The Portuguese government is expecting what other governments are expecting, so basically you need to prove that you have a vaccine, or that you have an immunisation – so that you are immune to the virus since you have been in contact with it before – or that you have a negative test.
“That’s pretty much the rules. The rules will be quite simple. At our end, we are working to have an agile process, as simple as possible, in order to provide a seamless experience to everyone that would like to travel to Portugal.”
The European Commission said it would ease restrictions on travel to the bloc amid progressing Covid-19 vaccination campaigns and lower infection rates.
The EU is proposing “to allow entry to the EU for non-essential reasons not only for all persons coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation, but also all people who have received the last recommended dose of an EU-authorised vaccine”.
The UK Government’s “green list” of countries to which people can travel without having to isolate for 14 days on their return is also expected to be released shortly.
All non-essential travel from the UK is banned until May 17, at the earliest, according to the government road map out of lockdown.
