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ARCHIVED - US government advises against travel to Spain and Portugal
Spiralling Covid infection rates lead to Spain joining the UK on Level 4 warning status
It is rapidly becoming apparent that the summer of 2021 will not see the revitalization of international tourism sector in Spain to anything like the extent that had been hoped, and another setback was dealt to the industry on Monday when the USA announced that Spain and Portugal were to be re-included on the list of countries to which travel is not recommended.
The main reason cited is the recent rise in coronavirus incidence rates throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and the latest decision made by the Departament of State on the recommendation of the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention also affects Cyprus and Kyrgyzstan, which join the UK, Syria, Tunisia, Panama, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Venezuela and others on “Level 4” warning status (on a scale of 1 to 5).
This follows the news over the weekend that Germany has added Spain to its “red list” for international travel, further damaging hopes for a revival in beach tourism during August.
At the same time, the prospect of visiting Spain is made even less attractive to US nationals by the recommendation that caution be exercised in this country due to the possibility of “terrorism and civil unrest”. In a longstanding warning, the Department of State advises that “Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Spain. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas.”
On June 8 the USA’s travel recommendations were made more flexible for the majority of EU countries as Covid incidence rates fell, but since then the situation has worsened considerably in Spain and the latest 14-day incidence rate stands at 700 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. This compares extremely unfavourably with figures of 24.5 in Germany, 76.4 in Italy and even the 270.5 in France, although it is still below the rate of 866 reported in the UK.