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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Sophie McCoid

Spain set to welcome British tourists within weeks

A Spanish government minister said he expects British tourists to return to Spain within weeks.

Deputy minister for tourism Fernando Valdes told the Associated Press that falling coronavirus incidence rates and accelerating vaccine rollouts in some countries will enable Spain to drop travel restrictions early next month.

Mr Valdes said in an interview: "Some people from countries outside the European Union will be able to come - for example, from the United Kingdom, which is in a good epidemiological situation - without any restrictions.

"And we are going to begin to accept citizens that can present a vaccine certificate."

In 2019, Britain sent 18 million people to Spain, the most of any country.

Spain is currently on the amber list under England's traffic light system for travel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that people should not be going on holiday to amber countries.

But the traffic light system is due to be reviewed in early June, with many people hoping that Spain is moved to the green list then, before the school summer holidays.

Negotiations between EU governments and EU legislators to introduce Covid-19 certificates aimed at facilitating travel across the bloc this summer are ongoing.

A deal is needed by the end of this month to ensure the system will be up and running by the end of June, as EU officials hope.

Mr Valdes said Spain intends to move quickly, as the government seeks to revive a sector that in pre-pandemic times accounted for 12% of annual gross domestic product, but plummeted to just under 6% amid lockdowns and travel bans last year.

He said: "Spain will have the digital certificate ready in June. We hope that (the EU) regulation will be approved on the June 21.

"But from the first week of June, Spain will be able to validate certificates on its borders and expedite certificates to its citizens."

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