Portugal says under-18s can travel with vaccinated parents

Mainland Portugal currently sits on the UK’s ‘amber list’

Amber zone: dawn over the resort of Armacao on the Portuguese Algarve coast (Simon Calder)

The rapidly changing rules for international travel took another twist overnight when Portugal reversed its plan to make unvaccinated children quarantine.

With coronavirus case numbers soaring in the UK, and widespread concern abroad about the spread of the Delta variant, many European nations have imposed tough new controls on British visitors.

At the start of the week, the government in Lisbon said travellers from the UK would be admitted without quarantine only if they could prove they had completed a course of vaccination.

The decree appeared to mean that accompanying children would be required to self-isolate – rendering family holidays in mainland Portugal unfeasible.

The authorities now say that under-18s who are accompanied by at least one fully vaccinated adult will be admitted – though those aged 12 to 17 must present a negative PCR test taken 72 hours before departure or a lateral flow test taken 48 hours ahead.

The rules do not apply to Madeira. The Atlantic island is the one part of Portugal on the UK government’s quarantine-free “green list”. The rest of the nation is on the “amber list,” from which 10 days of self-isolation is required.