Spain to allow Britons to visit from Sunday without need for quarantine

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said on Saturday that Spain would open its doors to British tourists from Sunday without the need for them to spend two weeks in quarantine because of the coronavirus.

"We will allow British visitors to enter Spain just like the rest of the European Union or Schengen area from 21 June freely and without the need for the quarantine," she told BBC News.

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Spain will end its state of emergency, called on March 14, on Sunday, and will open its borders to EU and Schengen area countries for a much-needed tourism boost.

Gonzalez Laya said British travellers would be subject to the same "triple check" as other European visitors, which consists of checking their origin, taking their temperature and providing contact details in case they need to be traced.

"We want to make sure we welcome visitors but do so in safety and security for them as well as for Spaniards," she said.

Spain is still in discussions over whether the UK will similarly lift quarantine measures for Spaniards, she said, but was opening its borders "out of respect for the 400,000 British citizens who have second residences in Spain" and who are "dying to benefit" from them.

Britons account for more than a fifth of the roughly 80 million tourists Spain receives every year.

Britain, with more than 42,500 documented coronavirus-linked deaths, and Spain, with over 28,300, are among the countries hardest hit by COVID-19.

(Reporting by Jessica Jones; Editing by Jan Harvey and Christina Fincher)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.