Holidaymakers hell as British tourists face mad scramble to get home by 4am Saturday

Holiday plans were thrown into chaos yet again for British tourists marooned in Portugal as the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced that the country had been removed from the UK’s quarantine exempt list.

HUNGARY has also been removed from the quarantine exemption list, meaning holidaymakers must now rush home or face two-weeks in isolation.

Travellers arriving in England from French Polynesia and Reunion must also self-isolate for 14-days from 4am on Saturday.

The ‘safe to fly’  travel corridor between Portugal and the UK had only been opened on August 22, but due to rising coronavirus cases the popular holiday destination has now been removed from the governments ‘green list’

Two of Portugal’s islands, Madeira and the Azores, are however exempt from the new rule under the Government’s plan to impose regional travel corridors.

Both Portugal and Hungary have seen daily cases rise above 20 per 100,000 people, figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show.

Portugal has shown a steady rise in cases since it had been removed from the UK’s quarantine list three weeks ago.

It now reports a total of 1,852 deaths amid 62,126 confirmed infections.

It also registered 646 new cases of coronavirus yesterday, which is the nation’s highest figure since April.

Airlines are already being accused of profiteering as seat prices double leaving many people angry and frustrated.

Travellers stuck in France recently experienced the same situation when the UK removed it from the ‘green list’.  

Wales and Scotland had already imposed their own self-isolation rules on Portugal, with Nicola Sturgeon also recently mandating 14-day isolation for arrivals from Greece and Wales adding six Greek islands to its list.

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Written by

Tara Rippin

Tara Rippin is a reporter for Spain’s largest English-speaking newspaper, Euro Weekly News, and is responsible for the Costa Blanca region.
She has been in journalism for more than 20 years, having worked for local newspapers in the Midlands, UK, before relocating to Spain in 1990.
Since arriving, the mother-of-one has made her home on the Costa Blanca, while spending 18 months at the EWN head office in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol.
She loves being part of a community that has a wonderful expat and Spanish mix, and strives to bring the latest and most relevant news to EWN’s loyal and valued readers.

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Comments


    • Billy Ward

      11 September 2020 • 20:56

      Sorry, but I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone that is trying to get home to beat the cutoff point. Everyone in the world knows about the pandemic, and everyone knows that the authoritues have to move fast to try and lessen the impact it has here in the UK, so all tgese poor people (so the sarcasm didn’t work in print) knew before they booked, and knew before they flew out, that there was a chance that the restrictions could be re-introduced at any time. There are thousands of places to visit here in the UK, if they are so desperate for a holiday

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