Tenerife, one of the most popular winter-sun escapes for British holidaymakers, is expected to close to new arrivals from midnight for two weeks as coronavirus infection rates soar on the island. The decision appears to scupper holiday plans for anyone planning to travel there for the rest of 2020.
Angel Victor Torres, the president of the Canary Islands government , said arrivals will be limited to essential purposes – including work, education and medical treatment, but not tourism. Departures will be allowed for travellers returning home.
Holidaymakers booked to travel to Tenerife during the day are expected to be able to continue. Twenty flights are scheduled on Thursday from airports across the UK to Reina Sofia airport in the south of the island.
But the plans of an estimated 6,000 passengers booked on the 37 flights from the UK to Tenerife on Friday are in jeopardy – together with a further 60,000-plus booked in the next two weeks.
Tui, the biggest holiday company, told The Independent: “We’re aware of the news reports regarding the recent announcement that Tenerife will close its borders from Friday 18 December.
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“We are currently working through what this means for our holiday programme and will update customers as soon as we have more information.”
The Independent has asked British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and Wizz Air for a response.
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If package holidays are cancelled, the traveller is entitled to a full refund within two weeks. But many of the scheduled flights are likely to go ahead – not least to bring back holidaymakers whose trips are due to end.
Many of the affected British holidaymakers will have already paid for and taken the PCR tests required by the Spanish authorities.
As well as the arrivals ban, restrictions on the island will be tightened, with the night curfew moved an hour earlier from 11pm to 10pm.
Thousands of people booked winter holidays in Tenerife in late October when the Canary Islands were removed from the UK’s “no-go” list.
The Canaries lost their travel corridor status a week ago, but with the Foreign Office not warning against visiting the islands many trips were planned to go ahead as normal.
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