British foreign minister Dominic Raab on Sunday stood by his government’s abrupt decision to impose a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travellers returning from Spain, which has provoked anger and confusion among tourists.
The move to take Spain off a safe-travel list was announced late on Saturday and took effect from midnight on Saturday, leaving travellers with no time to dodge it or plan ahead.
Raab defended the imposition of the quarantine as a “real-time response” to a jump in Spanish coronavirus cases reported on Friday, the latest in a month-long resurgence in infections.
“We can’t make apologies...we must be able to take swift, decisive action,” he said on Sky News.
The opposition Labour Party’s health policy chief, Jonathan Ashworth, slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government for its “frankly shambolic” handling of the measure, which has scuppered the plans of many would-be holidaymakers.
The move will also hit hard at the Spanish tourism sector just as it is starting to recover from months of coronavirus lockdowns and travel restrictions.
At Madrid’s Barajas airport Emily Harrison, who was taking a flight to London and faced the prospect of having to self-isolate for two weeks.
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