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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
World
David Kent

The holiday hotspots in Europe that could be ready to welcome Irish tourists this summer

International travel may be off the table at the moment, but with the Government still saying that four out of five adults will have been offered a Covid vaccine by June, there are still hopes we could be flying abroad in the summer.

Those hopes got a shot in the arm from the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar earlier this week.

Mr Varadkar told RTE's Morning Ireland: "The European Union is developing a Green Cert and we could see within months, people being able to travel again freely within the European Union if they're fully vaccinated."

The Green Cert would be formal proof of full vaccination and discussions around its rollout in the European Commission members states are suggesting that it could be required, along with a recent negative PCR test to enter some countries as a tourist.

But if all goes well, where could Irish people realistically jet off to?

Greece

Greece has still kept bars and restaurants shut under its country’s public health guidelines.

However, their Culture Minister has said that there will be a push to vaccinate all tourism workers by the summer and that the country stands behind the vaccine certificate initiative.

This is not a massive surprise as the nation relies heavily on tourism.

Cityscape of Reykjavik (Getty)

Iceland

Iceland has been following a strict testing and tracing protocol throughout the pandemic, which due to its relatively smaller population and less population density, sees it preparing for tourists in summer 2021.

Tourists from approved countries will be permitted to enter Iceland, providing two Covid-19 tests, with a 5-day quarantine between or provide a certificate proving you are either fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or have previously contracted and recovered from Covid-19.

Spain

Along with other EU members, including neighbour Portugal, Spain intends to open up its borders for tourists in July and August of this year.

Anyone who wants to land in Iberia need only provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test or that they have recently recovered from the virus to visit.

Portugal

Similarly to Spain, a negative Covid-19 test or a vaccine passport with let you visit Lisbon and the likes.

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