Spain is considering introducing bilateral deals with countries such as the UK to boost travel this summer, according to the country’s Tourism Minister.
The news comes after the European Commission announced plans to propose a “digital green pass” in order to revive international travel ahead of the summer.
Tourism Minister Fernando Valdes told Bloomberg that if a consensus on vaccine passports at the EU level “cannot be reached” then the country “will be thinking of other solutions like corridors, green corridors with third countries that can help us to restart tourism flows.”
Valdes added that Britain represents Spain’s main tourism market, and that Spain might be able to welcome vaccinated British travellers in the summer depending on the development of the vaccine programme and the evolution of the virus. The minister told the newswire that he is currently in discussions with colleagues in the UK.
International travel is set to resume on May 17 according to the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown for England, which was published last month.
The UK government is currently in talks to introduce vaccine passports for international travel, with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps discussing the initiative with counterparts in the Singaporean and US governments.
Several companies and international bodies have put forward a variety of technological solutions to document and verify travellers’ health status in the light of Covid-19 – for our guide to the different initiatives see:
