A Scottish couple desperate to make a fertility appointment for months were among some of first passengers boarding flights to Spain as travel restrictions eased.
From today, Monday 24 May, holidaymakers travelling to Spain from the UK will no longer need to present a negative COVID-19 test upon their return.
Since the country is on the UK’s amber list, visitors must quarantine when they arrive back home, according to the Mirror.
However, for Carole Hutchison and Christopher Couper, from Fife, the reason for their trip is very different.
The couple will be heading straight to their fertility clinic appointment in Allicante, which they must arrive at by noon that day.
They have a taxi waiting for them at the airport for the landing shortly after 10am and the clinic is not defrosting the embryos until they tell them they are on the plane.
They were due to fly from Edinburgh to Heathrow with British Airways on Friday, to then go to Spain, but they were told they were not allowed to fly to Heathrow because they were then heading to Spain, which was under Covid restrictions at the time.
That is despite twice last year flying to the same clinic for treatment when the country was under Covid restrictions.
Carole, 42, a public health practitioner for the NHS, said: “It’s been incredibly stressful and we have to rush once we land at Alicante and try and get through the airport as quickly as possible.
“I’ve been taking the required medication for months and there’s a window for when it can happen, we couldn’t believe we were not allowed to fly on Friday.
“Ten minutes after we were told that we found out Spain was opening up from today, so we booked on this flight.
“We lost a lot of money on the flight and this is a massive relief we can get on this flight but it’s very stressful of course.
“We fly straight back tomorrow to quarantine for 10 days.”
Those returning from countries on the amber list must quarantine at home for 10 days and take a pre-departure and two post-arrival tests.
The government has faced accusations of mixed messaging, as ministers urged Brit holidaymakers to be 'patient' and avoid travel to countries on the list despite - there being no outright ban.
Over the weekend, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urged holidaymakers wanting to visit countries on the amber list to have "more patience".
Popular summer hotspots such as France, Italy and Greece are among the countries also on the list along with Spain.
Mr Shapps appealed for people to have "a little more patience as the world catches up with our vaccine programme".
Asked why holidays were still being sold to countries on the amber list, Mr Shapps told Sky News on Thursday the Government had moved away from a system where things were "banned and illegal" to a situation where people were expected to "apply a bit of common sense".
Mr Shapps told the Financial Times: "I don't think people have a very long time to wait before other countries are able to join the green list."
