The Canary Islands want to create safe travel corridors with the UK

The President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the Minister of Tourism, Yaiza Castilla, hold talks with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Tourism and representatives of the British Government to prevent the citizens of this country from being subjected to quarantine upon returning from their holidays in the islands.

Torres appreciates that the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands are excluded from the recommendation of the British Government regarding non-essential travel to Spain.

The President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, asked this Saturday the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Arancha González Laya and Reyes Maroto, respectively, to create safe and direct air corridors between the Canary Islands and the United Kingdom, after the country has decided to recommend to its citizens not to travel to Spain, except the Canary and Balearic Islands, but, upon return, all its citizens and residents will have to quarantine for 14 days.

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• UK imposes a 14-day quarantine on all travellers returning from Spain (including Canary Islands)

The Canary Islands is one of the areas of Europe with the lowest incidence of COVID-19, with 5.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, which makes it one of the safest destinations to spend vacations this summer.

This action has also been coordinated with the President of the Balearic Islands, Francina Armengol.

All these efforts are added to the fact that Ángel Víctor Torres maintains open communication with representatives of the United Kingdom after the country has decreed a quarantine for all travelers returning from Spain. However, in the same decision, the British Government clarifies that the Canary and Balearic Islands are excluded from the recommendation to their citizens not to travel to Spain, that is, that they can continue to do so as planned.

Now it is a question that, upon their return, these citizens do not have to undergo a quarantine upon arrival in their country, after enjoying their holidays in the Canary Islands.

Simultaneously, the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, also had a first conversation with the ambassador of the United Kingdom in Spain, Hugh Elliot, to request more details about this decision and convey the need to maintain a direct and safe round trip route.

Castilla considers that, if finally applied, this measure would be detrimental to the Canary Islands due to the repercussions for the tourism sector at a time when some connectivity with the United Kingdom, the main issuing country to the Islands, was beginning to recover.

Throughout the evening, different cabinets of the Canary Islands Government maintain permanent open communications with the State Administration, the Embassy of the United Kingdom and with the Secretary of State of the European Union to assert the exceptional situation of the archipelago, where the entry by ship and plane is highly controlled, with a low prevalence of COVID-19.