Portugal quarantine: Everything UK travellers need to know

The key questions and answers about the latest changes to the quarantine rules

Danger zone: Albufeira in Portugal is in the same risk category as central Kabul and parts of Somalia (Simon Calder)

The UK government has reimposed the obligation for 14 days of self-isolation for anyone coming back from the Portuguese mainland. It joins Spain, France and Croatia on the no-go list.

Hungary also lost its exemption in the latest round of quarantine changes; so did Reunion and French Polynesia, but vanishingly few British travellers will be affected.

Sweden has gained quarantine exemption.

What has changed?


The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, tweeted: “Data shows we need to remove Portugal (minus the Azores and Madeira), Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion from the Travel Corridor list to keep everyone safe.“

If you arrive in England from these destinations after 4am Saturday, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.”

Portugal is now in the same Foreign Office risk category as central Kabul and parts of Somalia.

The country was given quarantine exemption only three weeks ago. Scotland placed the whole country on its quarantine list a week ago, while Wales insists anyone returning from the mainland – but not the islands – self-isolates for two weeks.

Where does that leave holidaymakers who are there?


On the beach or in the bar. Or rushing to the airport.

When the UK government reimposes quarantine on a country, it does not say “come home now”. 

But many people will choose to do so at their own expense.


For people who opt to stay – perhaps because they can’t afford the fares that are being charged – holidays will continue.

Holidaymakers on longer stays, of two or three weeks, may find there are changes to flights coming home as airlines cut flights to reduce losses – because demand will dry up.

What options are there for beating the deadline?

Air fares from Faro (serving the Algarve), Lisbon and the northern city of Porto have been rising sharply as Portugal’s infection numbers increased.

They jumped after Grant Shapps let slip on Thursday morning that the Portuguese islands would be treated differently – implying that the mainland was joining the no-go list.

Many flights have sold out completely. Wizz Air still has space on its late-night flight from Lisbon to Luton, arriving shortly before 1am on 12 September, at a fare of €347 (£310).

British Airways added extra flights on Friday, with the lowest fares to Heathrow at €420 (£375).

Note that it is not sufficient simply to leave mainland Portugal – whether for Madeira or a non-quarantine country such as Germany or Italy – by the deadline. If you have been in mainland Portugal in the past two weeks, you must quarantine unless you are back in the UK by 4am on Saturday.

Nor should you change planes in Madrid, Paris or Amsterdam. With Spain, France and the Netherlands on the no-go list, even going through in transit will trigger a quarantine obligation.

Anyone with a vehicle who is preparing to drive the 2,000km from Lisbon to Calais should note that they are not allowed to mix with anyone in Spain or France on the journey, and this includes travelling by ferry from one of the Channel ports.

Am I safe in Madeira or the Azores?

So long as there is a direct flight to the UK, or via a non-quarantine nation (eg Germany), then you should be able to avoid self-isolation on return to England, Wales or Northern Ireland (Scotland enforces quarantine for the whole of Portugal).

But if you are on a connecting flight via the Portuguese mainland, or your flight is diverted there, and you spend time in the airport terminal, then you must quarantine on return.

I have a holiday booked to Portugal or Hungary. Can I get a refund?

If you have booked a package holiday – flights plus accommodation – with an imminent departure, then the travel company is likely to offer a full refund. Once the Foreign Office warns against travel to a destination, it is conventional for passengers to be offered their money back. But if it is a city break later in the year, the travel firm will ask you to wait.

If you have booked elements separately, it depends on the attitude of your airline and accommodation provider. British Airways and easyJet are likely to offer a credit note, while Ryanair’s attitude is “use it, lose it or pay to change it”.

Hoteliers may offer the chance to postpone your trip but are unlikely to provide a full refund.

Who is next – and how does the government decide?

The basic measure is the number of new cases per 100,000 citizens over the course of a week. If it rises above 20 for a sustained number of days, ministers in the four UK nations, advised by the Joint Biosecurity Centre, are likely to make quarantine mandatory.

At the same time the Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel, which invalidates travel insurance.

The UK is currently around 25, with Portugal at 28. The two obvious candidate to be next on the list are Gibraltar (80) and Denmark (24). Gibraltar has so far avoided the no-go list due to its very high levels of testing.

Other popular destinations, including Greece (12), Italy (17) and Turkey (14), are looking reasonable bets for a September getaway. And they could be joined by Bulgaria (14), which has seen a steady and sustained decrease in infection rates.

Are people in self-isolation actually being checked on by the authorities?

Like lockdown, there is a presumption of compliance rather than any kind of organised action. So you may or may not be asked to show your completed passenger locator form when you arrive back in the UK, and you may or may not be checked on.

The government is relying on the individual’s conscience – or social disapproval.

How has the travel industry responded?


With fury that yet another key destination has been added to the no-go list.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive at Advantage Travel Partnership said: “With Portugal now being removed from the UK government’s ‘safe list’ of travel corridors, it does raise a question over what criteria the government is using to remove destinations given the country’s rates of infection being over the threshold this time last week.

“This week alone we have seen further announcements of redundancies in the sector and travel businesses failing and we cannot continue with this stop/start approach to destinations being added and removed from the list.

“We are looking at 39,000 jobs lost or at risk and that is before the majority of businesses have entered redundancy consultation.

“Testing on arrival and then again five days later would help to reduce the length of quarantine which is causing so much anxiety for consumers and ultimately cancellations of bookings and loss of revenue for travel agents.”

Why does Scotland not grant exemption to low-infection islands?

The Scottish government says: “A whole country approach is still required at the moment.

“While regional variations in the pattern of cases and level of risk can sometimes be identified in different countries, the Scottish government remains concerned at the risk arising from travel between different parts of a country in the absence of strong evidence of clear controls in place to limit this.

”The Scottish government will continue to explore the scope for distinguishing between regions but for the moment a whole country approach will be applied in the interests of safeguarding public health in Scotland.”