Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will abandon his Spanish holiday to deal with the quarantine fiasco.
Mr Shapps will leave his family in Spain and return to the UK on Wednesday to tackle the chaos facing tens of thousands of holidaymakers.
The Transport Secretary arrived in Spain only hours before the Government decided to axe quarantine-free travel to the country, falling foul of his department's own rules.
As ministers came under huge pressure over the situation, Mr Shapps has now been forced to abandon his trip and return to the UK, where he will need to isolate for 14 days.
It is understood that the senior Tory was aware that quarantine could be reimposed when he flew out but felt he had to go ahead with his trip.
Mr Shapps said in a statement: "Thousands of people have seen their holidays disrupted or cancelled thanks to the necessary emergency imposition of quarantine restrictions on Spain.
"I have been in constant contact with officials and industry representatives since I arrived in Spain on Saturday afternoon, when I received the data and decided with colleagues to make the difficult decision to introduce quarantine.
"However I think it is right to get back to work in the UK as soon as possible in order to help handle the situation.
"The sooner I get back from Spain myself, the sooner I can get through quarantine."
Changes to the quarantine rules were announced on Saturday, only hours before they came into force - leaving many tourists already in Spain with no choice but to isolate for two weeks on their return home.
The abrupt reimposition of quarantine - after a spike in cases in Spain - sparked anger among holidaymakers and the tourism sector.
Tui, the UK's largest tour operator, suspended all holidays to Spain up to August 9.
And Jet2 said it was suspending flights to Almeria, Alicante, Malaga and Murcia from Tuesday up to and including August 16.
Meanwhile, Downing Street caused outrage by insisting that returning Brits should claim Universal Credit if their employers refuse to pay them while they self isolate.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman refused to budge on barring travellers from claiming Statutory Sick Pay, worth £95.85-a-week, while they self isolate
Current rules only allow those self isolating with coronavirus symptoms to claim SSP.
No10 warned people that "no travel is risk free" during the pandemic, suggesting that restrictions could be implemented quickly for other holiday destinations if there was a spike in cases.
The Foreign Office changed its guidance on Monday to advise against all but essential travel to Spain and its islands.
