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Tourist favourites Spain, Greece and Italy remain on amber list

Most of Europe’s tourism big hitters fail to go green

Saman Javed
Thursday 26 August 2021 18:01 BST
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<p>Malaga remains stuck on amber</p>

Malaga remains stuck on amber

Most of Europe’s tourism big hitters failed to go green in the government’s latest update of its traffic light system for international travel.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced a review of its green, amber and red lists, with changes due to come into effect at 4am on 30 August.

Mainland Spain, Greece and Italy have all remained on the amber list in the latest reshuffle.

Portugal, once the only mainstream holiday destination to achieve green status, also remains stuck on amber, necessitating 10 days of quarantine and two PCR tests for all unvaccinated adults returning to the UK.

However, a further seven countries have been upgraded to green in the review, announced on 26 August, meaning arrivals can swerve self-isolation even if they’re not double-jabbed: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Azores.

The green and green watchlists are now comprised of 43 places in total.

On the other end of the spectrum, Montenegro and Thailand have plunged from amber to red to safeguard the domestic vaccine rollout.

The list of 62 red list countries come with the harshest restrictions, with returning travellers forced to prebook 11 nights in a government-mandated quarantine hotel. The price includes an airport transfer, all meals and two PCR tests to be taken on day two and day eight.

It previously cost £1,750 per solo traveller, but in mid-August the price shot up to £2,285 for a single adult and £1,430 for a second adult.

Currently, only those with British residency are allowed into the UK from red list countries.

At present, fully vaccinated travellers from the UK, US and EU, as well as under 18s, can skip quarantine when arriving from amber-listed countries, although they are still required to take a day two PCR test in addition to a lateral flow test before departing for the UK.

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