UK Spares Greece and Portugal but Wales adds Gibraltar and Six Greek Islands to its ‘Red List’

Greece and Portugal remain ‘safe to visit’ from the UK as Wales adds Gibraltar, six Greek Islands, and French French Polynesia to its quarantine list.

THE tense wait is over for many British holidaymakers in Greece and Portugal who plan to return to the UK within the next week as both countries have maintained quarantine-free travel back to England – at least for the time being.

In a surprise move however, the Welsh government added mainland Portugal and Gibraltar to its quarantine list, and perhaps not surprisingly, included six Greek Islands to its quarantine list also. They include Mykonos, Zakynthos, Lesvos, Paros, Antiparos and Crete.

The inclusion of Greece was expected due to the number of people returning from the Greek island of Zante over the last few weeks. 

In a statement on Thursday, Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething said it comes as a result after “a large number of cases of coronavirus have been imported into Wales from tourists,” especially from the Greek Islands.

The decision comes into force on Friday at 4am, and means anyone travelling from Gibraltar to Wales, even if they go via English airports, will have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival. It was expected that government ministers would simply reimpose the mandatory 14-day quarantine for arrivals in England from Portugal, as the rolling seven-day total of infections per 100,000 people is now well above 20 – which is seen as the threshold.

Interestingly, the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira were spared the quarantine law. Earlier in the week, travellers to Wales from Zakynthos were asked to self-isolate, but the changes now mean those who do not do so face could face fines.