Spain slams UK, Germany for advising tourists to stay away

[webfact]

Spain slams UK, Germany for advising tourists to stay away

By Ingrid Melander, Sarah Young and Maria Sheahan

 

FILE PHOTO: People sunbathe in Magaluf beach, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Palma de Mallorca, Spain July 11, 2020. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo/File Photo

 

MADRID/LONDON/BERLIN (Reuters) - Spain reacted angrily on Tuesday to recommendations from Britain and Germany that their citizens avoid its islands and beaches because of an increase in coronavirus cases during what should be the height of the tourism season.

 

With advisories piling up on top of a quarantine order from Britain for returning travellers, Spain, which depends on summer visits by sun-seeking northern Europeans, is facing a major blow to any hopes of reviving its economy.

 

Tourism accounts for just over 12% of Spain's GDP and nearly 13% of jobs. The country lost one million jobs between April and June, its biggest ever quarterly decline, and fears steeper losses as the summer season crashes.

 

"It's very unfair because it's not based on any sanitary criteria," Francina Armengol, the head of the key tourist Balearic region, told Cadena Ser radio of the travel advisories.

 

Britain's decision had no logical explanation, Armengol said, adding that the archipelago's contagion rate was lower than that of the United Kingdom. The northern Spanish Aragon region said the no-travel advisories were "discriminatory".

 

Their comments chimed with those of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who on Monday said it was a mistake for Britain to have considered Spain's overall coronavirus rate rather than having a granular, regional approach.

 

On the streets of Madrid, the reaction was one of outrage.

 

"It annoys me because it's not as though they were especially better off than us," said Madrid resident Isabel Garcia, who works in marketing. "Everyone is in a bad way, and the fact that they pick on Spain... It seems wrong."

 

But Britain stood firm, saying it would stick to the sudden quarantine announced on Saturday and its late Monday move to extend a travel advisory against travel in mainland Spain to the Canary and Balearic islands.

 

'OUR JOB TO ACT SWIFTLY'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday Britain would take action to impose quarantines on other countries should COVID-19 infections rise.

 

"I'm afraid if we do see signs of a second wave in other countries, it is really our job, our duty, to act swiftly and decisively to stop travellers coming back from those places seeding the disease here in the UK," he told reporters.

 

The only glimmer of hope for Spain came from Britain's junior transport minister Charlotte Vere, who said that while London would continue to make decisions on a country-wide basis, it was looking at setting quarantine rules for different regions "in the future". She gave no timeframe.

 

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said Madrid was working on convincing London to soften its stance.

 

"We are still talking to British authorities, explaining that the outbreaks in Spain are under control ... and making sure that the measures taken by Britain respond to epidemiological criteria and no other criteria that have nothing to do with COVID," Laya told reporters in Athens.

 

Britons make up the biggest group of foreign tourists in Spain, with some 18 million travelling there last year, just over a fifth of the total number of visitors. Some 11.2 million Germans visited Spain, making them the second-largest group.

 

Britain's quarantine alone could cost Spanish tourism 10 billion euros ($11.73 billion) in lost revenue, Jorge Marichal, the head of tourism association CEHAT, told La Sexta television.

 

Spain has recorded 278,782 coronavirus cases and 28,434 deaths, but the infection rates, which have jumped since a nationwide lockdown ended in June, vary widely from region to region. Catalonia and Aragon have seen the highest increases in the past weeks.

 

Britain has, however, been the hardest-hit country in Europe. Some 300,111 people have tested positive for coronavirus and there have been 45,759 deaths.

 

"They're pointing the finger at others when they have the same situation," Spaniard Mercedes Blanco said as she sat down to lunch with her daughter during a visit to Madrid.

 

(Reporting by Nathan Allen, Inti Landauro, Elena Rodriguez, Belen Carreno, Emma Pinedo, Joan Faus, Clara-Laeila Laudette, in Madrid, Sarah Young, Paul Sandle and Guy Faulconbridge in London, Maria Sheahan in Berlin; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Nick Macfie)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-29

 

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[tribalfusion001]

And it starts again, 75 years of peace and unravels over a virus. Dangerous times with this xenophobia rising. People stay strong, we can all rise up and stay as one.

[TopDeadSenter]

The Spanish seem confused. Before coronavirus they wanted tourists to go home. They made a right song and dance about foreign tourists not being welcome any more. We all should remember the headlines.

 

"'Tourists go home': Leftists resist Spain's influx"

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40826257

"British tourists told to ‘go home’ by furious locals in graffiti sprawled across Spanish holiday hotspot"

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9188429/british-tourists-furious-locals-holiday-spain/

 

And here we are. They got exactly what they wanted. So, are they happy? According to the OP no they are not. Oh well, so sad, never mind. And be careful what you wish for!

Edited July 28, 2020 by TopDeadSenter

[Yinn]

Hmmm.

if Spain tell Germany and UK can not enter Spain, UK and Germany will be cry Spain “xenophobia” and “racist”

 

17 minutes ago, webfact said:

Britain has, however, been the hardest-hit country in Europe. Some 300,111 people have tested positive for coronavirus and there have been 45,759 deaths.

 

Spain stupid to have tourists now IMO. Especially from high covid countrys.

Only care about money, not the people.

 

 

[rasmus5150]

7 hours ago, Yinn said:

Spain stupid to have tourists now IMO. Especially from high covid countrys.

Only care about money, not the people.

A little bit like when Thailand invited Chinese tourists with open arms, at the start of the pandemic.

[Geoffggi]

7 hours ago, Yinn said:

Hmmm.

if Spain tell Germany and UK can not enter Spain, UK and Germany will be cry Spain “xenophobia” and “racist”

 

Spain stupid to have tourists now IMO. Especially from high covid countrys.

Only care about money, not the people.

 

 

Ha ha ha!! OK now I know.....LOL 

[JonnyF]

I don't know what they're complaining about. Barnier has been telling us for ages that EU countries don't need Britain for anything. At one point they were "threatening" to stop flights post Brexit so we couldn't go and spend loads of our cash in their tourist resorts. 

 

Consider this a warm up for what could happen post Brexit if the Brits feel slighted and decide to stay away. Ibiza and many other European hotspots kept afloat by British tourists will rival Samui for boarded up shops/bars/restaurants.

[JonnyF]

8 hours ago, Yinn said:

Hmmm.

if Spain tell Germany and UK can not enter Spain, UK and Germany will be cry Spain “xenophobia” and “racist”

 

Spain stupid to have tourists now IMO. Especially from high covid countrys.

Only care about money, not the people.

 

 

Nonsense. If Spain starts blocking Asians/Blacks from entering it's restaurants and bars purely because of their racial makeup (even if they haven't left Spain for years) then people will cry Racist. And rightly so.

[dunroaming]

It does appear that Britain is making a real pig's ear of this, as usual. Obviously announcing the self quarantining for travelers returning from Spain throws a spanner in the works for the tourism industry.  Airlines will be forced to cancel flights and hotels in Spain will also face holiday cancellations.  Some of the concerns are justified but not for most areas of Spain.

 

This is knee jerk Johnson at his most ludicrous.  On the other hand anyone who thinks that they can just ignore the risks involved in booking a European holiday now, need a reality check and I guess this is it!

 

 

[ukrules]

21 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

This is knee jerk Johnson at his most ludicrous.  On the other hand anyone who thinks that they can just ignore the risks involved in booking a European holiday now, need a reality check and I guess this is it!

I heard the decision was made using bad data anyway.

 

For some reason the Spanish decided to add people who test positive for antibodies to their numbers of infected.

 

This inflated the numbers with people who have already recovered weeks ago.

 

Are they really that dumb?

[robblok]

The Germans not going to Spain i can understand. Germany is doing a lot better then Spain. However the UK is like the worst hit in Europe. If anything Spain would be importing Covid cases its not as if it could get much worse in the UK. 

 

Anyway my country is ruled by idiots too. Still refusing masks. They should learn something from Asia.

[RayC]

59 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I don't know what they're complaining about. Barnier has been telling us for ages that EU countries don't need Britain for anything. At one point they were "threatening" to stop flights post Brexit so we couldn't go and spend loads of our cash in their tourist resorts. 

 

Consider this a warm up for what could happen post Brexit if the Brits feel slighted and decide to stay away. Ibiza and many other European hotspots kept afloat by British tourists will rival Samui for boarded up shops/bars/restaurants.

Yet another nebulous example of how "they need us more than we need them". While it is true that the number of UK nationals visiting the EU is significant, the same is true of EU visitors to the UK.

[shy coconut]

20 hours ago the UK government issued a list of countries where you can visit and

not have to quarantine on return, this included Luxembourg who have the highest

infection rate in Europe and twice as bad as the worst parts of Catalonia.

 

Granted there are most likely far more people visiting Spain from the UK than

The duchy, but it does seem like there are contradictions with the messages.

[tribalfusion001]

Two people caught covid-19 from being in Manchester, they were tested in Berlin, Turkish Germans or maybe just Turkish citizens, not sure, lol. Anyway Gove said 10 people had come back to the UK from Spain had caught covid-19 oh holiday there.

[Heppinger]

10 hours ago, tribalfusion001 said:

And it starts again, 75 years of peace and unravels over a virus. Dangerous times with this xenophobia rising. People stay strong, we can all rise up and stay as one.

Another Spanish inquisition? 

[Heppinger]

44 minutes ago, RayC said:

Yet another nebulous example of how "they need us more than we need them". While it is true that the number of UK nationals visiting the EU is significant, the same is true of EU visitors to the UK.

I think the EU visitors to the UK are economic migrants not tourists.

[Tarteso]

As a Spanish, I feel the immense amount of loss of life in the first phase, (I myself have lost relatives infected with Covid-19).  I also feel the loss of millions of jobs and the economic tragedy that comes with this first wave.  But what I do not understand is the lack of control and the lack of authority and ineffectiveness of a government that did not know how to take measures and control its citizenship in time due to the Virus.  The Spanish government lowered the measures and the second wave has jumped.  I find it unwise to accuse the British of this measure.  In my opinion, I don't think Boris Johnson is another brilliant mind either, but I respect that he debates and wants to keep his citizens away from this second wave. About Spain; I hope they can resolve the crisis that comes in the least painful way.  Europe has injected millions of Euros into a Country that lives with every 3 citizens, only 1 works. The future is no clear, and not only for Spain... look at the rest of the world.

[ballpoint]

20 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

Another Spanish inquisition? 

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

[ballpoint]

Who would want to be going there anyway?  Even if a repatriation flight had a stopover there, the sane in Spain stay mainly on the plane.

[spiekerjozef]

What else should they say?

Go to Spain and get Covid19, PLEASE.

[Heppinger]

10 hours ago, tribalfusion001 said:

And it starts again, 75 years of peace and unravels over a virus. Dangerous times with this xenophobia rising. People stay strong, we can all rise up and stay as one.

Is fear of a virus xenophobia now?  and should we all stay as one? what about social distancing? 

[rvaviator]

36 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

Another Spanish inquisition? 

What next .. The Armada?

[pacovl46]

There should be no tourism until this is over anyway, so what are you on about?! 

[joecoolfrog]

17 hours ago, Yinn said:

Hmmm.

if Spain tell Germany and UK can not enter Spain, UK and Germany will be cry Spain “xenophobia” and “racist”

 

Spain stupid to have tourists now IMO. Especially from high covid countrys.

Only care about money, not the people.

 

 

Spain has a problem , its economy is heavily reliant on tourism , just like Thailand. 

If the economy totaly crashes then the citizens suffer , especially the poorer working class ones.

Spain is trying to achieve a ballance between keeping its people safe and them not becoming utterly impoverished.

Thailand is sitting on its hands and doing <deleted> all , its poorer citizens will suffer badly because of the government inaction in financially supporting them.

[Letseng]

17 hours ago, Yinn said:

Hmmm.

if Spain tell Germany and UK can not enter Spain, UK and Germany will be cry Spain “xenophobia” and “racist”

 

Spain stupid to have tourists now IMO. Especially from high covid countrys.

Only care about money, not the people.

 

 

If German tourists could abide by the rules there would be no problem. After ignoring l rules, Mallorca shut the popular party mile down again.

[Baerboxer]

20 hours ago, robblok said:

The Germans not going to Spain i can understand. Germany is doing a lot better then Spain. However the UK is like the worst hit in Europe. If anything Spain would be importing Covid cases its not as if it could get much worse in the UK. 

 

Anyway my country is ruled by idiots too. Still refusing masks. They should learn something from Asia.

 

I don't think any of the governments, or civil servants, in the EU have performed especially well on this. All seem to have invented their own way of calculating the number of cases and deaths - some very creative numbers politically motivated no doubt.

 

Only the front line and support workers serving their communities have performed brilliantly.

[Baerboxer]

35 minutes ago, Donaldo said:

Well it certainly is time to rethink the whole idea of mass tourism. Especially from an environmental point of view. It is not a human right to be able to fly to every corner of the world. There is so much to be seen and done in one's own country that there is no need to fly half way around the earth. And with climate change in full swing there will be enough sun back home too.

 

Yeah, let the government or some manipulated child with mental health issues dictate to everybody what they can and can't do!

 

You'll fit in great with BLM, Antifa, and all their mates. HR rights are not for any group to deny.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Baerboxer

[robblok]

11 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

I don't think any of the governments, or civil servants, in the EU have performed especially well on this. All seem to have invented their own way of calculating the number of cases and deaths - some very creative numbers politically motivated no doubt.

 

Only the front line and support workers serving their communities have performed brilliantly.

If you look at more then average death rates you see UK has one of the worst numbers in EU. So please don't pretend the UK did well. Just compare Germany and UK. Netherlands even did better as the UK (not that great either compared to Germany)

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53073046

[overherebc]

20 hours ago, ballpoint said:

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

Strange thing was they actually invited you for your first 'interview'.

????

[rasmus5150]

23 hours ago, JonnyF said:

I don't know what they're complaining about. Barnier has been telling us for ages that EU countries don't need Britain for anything. At one point they were "threatening" to stop flights post Brexit so we couldn't go and spend loads of our cash in their tourist resorts. 

 

Consider this a warm up for what could happen post Brexit if the Brits feel slighted and decide to stay away. Ibiza and many other European hotspots kept afloat by British tourists will rival Samui for boarded up shops/bars/restaurants.

If this happens, then Brighton Beach's gonna be mighty crowded ????