Tenerife is to close its borders for 15 days from midnight on Friday in a shock new move to fight rising cases of coronavirus. Spain holidays to the island will no longer be allowed. How it will impact those with flight and getaways booked is not yet clear.
Covid cases have gone from well below the national average to among the highest in Spain.
The decision was taken at an extraordinary council meeting today and will last until the end of December at least, therefore covering Christmas and the New Year.
It is hoped holidaymakers with trips booked will have some more clarity in the coming days.
Many have taken to Twitter to ask how to proceed.
“What number do you call? I have already bought flights to Madrid next week and I am not sure if I will be allowed to leave the island. To return I have no problems, I am registered and work in Tenerife, but it is more to go out if they allow me for Christmas reasons with family,” one Tenerife resident wrote.
“Are you still travelling to Tenerife from Saturday onwards? Thanks,” one prospective holidaymaker asked airline Jet2, while another asked the carrier: “Can you advise what we need to do? Just arrived in Tenerife yesterday and I hear they are closing their border to tourists. Should we return to BFS straight away?
A third quizzed the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO): “Will you now change your advice on the canaries as Tenerife enters lockdown?”
The FCDO has yet to change its Spanish advice and airlines have not all yet responded to the news.
TUI has said it it will update customers if and when changes are made.
A TUI spokeswoman told Express.co.uk: We’re aware of the news reports regarding the recent announcement that Tenerife will close its borders from Friday, December 18. We are currently working through what this means for our holiday programme and will update customers as soon as we have more information.”
Express.co.uk has contacted other major carriers for further clarification.
DON’T MISS
The Canaries are still reeling from another shock today.
The Canary Islands government has clashed with the mainland over the types of covid tests allowed for entry to the archipelago.
Island leaders previously said in their travel advice they would accept travellers with negative rapid antigen tests. These are considerably cheaper than PCR tests and are “easier to obtain”.
However, the Spanish government is now set to over-rule the controversial decision to allow international travellers entry to the islands on the back of rapid coronavirus tests.
Spanish newspapers are reporting Madrid won’t allow the Canaries to make this decision and says only full PCR tests are acceptable, not rapid ones.
Big events such as markets, fairs or festivals, are all suspended.
Torres has indicated that the Government is very concerned about the data from Tenerife, especially as the next fifteen days would have seen one of the highest levels of internal mobility.
In September there were 90 cases a day, in October it went to 125 cases, in November it increased to 180 cases while in December the daily average has reached 256 cases for three days, he said.
It is understood there will be some exception to entering or leaving Tenerife over the 15 day period, including for health reasons, education, work, going back home, urgent judicial action, taking an official exam which can’t be changed, a totally unavoidable event or to look after a dependent.
Additional reporting by Rita Sobot.