Madeira to offer free PCR tests to tourists

More than one in four people in Madeira have been vaccinated

madeira (Getty/iStock)

Madeira will offer a free PCR test to all visitors to tempt back tourists.

The Portuguese islands, off the coast of Morocco, will offer tourists one free test – to be taken on arrival or departure. Results will take 24 hours.

Discounted rates will be offered for further tests.

The offer would benefit British tourists travelling to Madeira, who would otherwise have to pay around £120 for a PCR test in the UK prior to travel.

They can now opt to take this test for free on arrival to Madeira.

Travellers are also required to present a negative Covid test before departure back to the UK, though rapid antigen and lateral flow tests are accepted in addition to PCR tests. Visitors to Madeira can pay a discounted rate of just €18 for an antigen test.

The islands of Madeira enjoyed a bumper tourism season last autumn when they were added to the UK’s travel corridors list, while mainland Portugal was not. It meant that British travellers weren’t required to quarantine upon their return to the UK.

According to its tourism board, more than one in four people (27 per cent) in Madeira have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Madeira is currently open to tourists. Travellers who can prove they’ve been vaccinated; have proof of recovery from Covid within the past 90 days; or can show negative PCR test taken within 72 hours, are granted entry.

Infection rates in Madeira are low, with an average of 32 new cases in the last seven days, according to the tourism board. This could make it a prime option for the UK’s “green list”, due to be announced on Friday.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has already indicated he wants to take an “islands approach”, as he did last summer.

Everybody who works in the tourism industry, an important source of income for Madeira, will be vaccinated by the end of May, the tourism board said.