Spain Reiterates ‘No Plans to Open Borders Before July 1’ Except for German ‘Pilot’ to Test Tracing Capabilities

Spain’s Government has reiterated that it has “no plans to open its borders before July 1” except for a “tourism pilot project” to test its tracing capabilities.

DESPITE mounting pressure from Spain’s regional premiers to open up the country to international tourism earlier than July 1, the Government remains cautious and has reiterated that it prefers to wait until next month. According to the Government’s spokesperson María Jesús Montero “for now, there are no plans to change the July 1 date, apart from a few tourism pilot projects”. This includes a group of 6,000 German tourists destined to visit the Balearic Islands this month. “The Government aims to use this pilot tourism project to test the country’s healthcare safety system and tracing capabilities before opening up to international visitors in July,” confirmed Montero.

Earlier this week, Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto, raised the tourism industry’s hopes  up, by announcing that the land borders with France and Portugal would reopen on June 22, coinciding with the end of the State of Alarm and lockdown in Spain. However, this decision was overturned by the government, who confirmed that international travel within Europe will resume on July 1, and not before (as reported).

A meeting of Europe’s Ministers yesterday also revealed that most EU Ministers are keen to reactivate international travel within the Schengen area by June 15. Italy, in fact, already lifted its restrictions on European travel earlier this week on June 3. Spain, however, prefers to wait until July 1.

Nevertheless, both the prime ministers of Spain and Italy, have written to the European Commission urging a coordinated approach to reopen borders within the European Union, as well as countries outside the EU, in a bid to control the contagion.

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Pepi Sappal

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