Nicola Sturgeon has delivered a blow to the tourism and aviation sectors after she effectively banned Scottish residents from going on holiday to Spain.
The First Minister said a requirement to quarantine for 14 days for any travellers arriving from the country would remain in force north of the border, even though it is being lifted in England from Friday.
She said higher coronavirus infection rates in Spain, and the potential for importing cases, justified the “difficult decision” with a prize of "virtual elimination” of the virus in Scotland now "clearly attainable".
However, she was warned that the decision would cause additional problems for the aviation and tourism sectors in Scotland, while also causing disappointment to thousands of Scottish residents who had been planning a break in Spain.
Ms Sturgeon said the self-isolation rules would also continue to apply to travellers from Serbia, although people visiting or returning from the 57 other countries with which the UK government announced “air bridges” last week will not have to quarantine if they go to Scotland.
The SNP leader, who had come under intense pressure over recent days to unveil her plan for overseas travel, cited an infection prevalence rate of 330 per 100,000 people in Spain, compared to 28 per 100,000 in Scotland, and said some of Serbia’s neighbours had recently closed their borders with the country due to concerns about a spike in cases there.
Scots travelling to and from Spain through English airports would still be checked after returning, she said, with data to be shared with Scottish officials.
However, the decision raises the prospect of another diplomatic spat between Edinburgh and Madrid. Relations had already been under strain due to Ms Sturgeon’s support for the Catalan independence movement and claims that Spain would seek to block an independent Scotland’s accession to the EU.
"I know how many people from Scotland enjoy travelling to Spain and I know how much we love welcoming Spanish tourists," Ms Sturgeon said. "My hope is these restrictions can be relaxed soon, and possibly very soon.
“However, unfortunately, and I do mean that, we cannot in good conscience at this stage lift restrictions on people arriving from Spain because of the significantly higher prevalence.”
Ms Sturgeon said the decision would be reviewed on July 20, although Scottish schools resume on August 11, effectively ruling out Spain as a family holiday destination this summer.
Gordon Dewar, the chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said he was glad to finally have clarity on air bridges to Scotland but that the exclusion of Spain was a concern.
“It does still pose some serious questions and threats to the industry,” he said. “This is one of Scotland’s biggest and most important destinations for inward and outward tourism, and that impacts on airline decisions about where to base their fleet. We hope to see this resolved quickly.”
People coming from countries including Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Holland and Malta are among those which are being exempted from the requirement to quarantine in Scotland, in line with the rest of the UK.
Dr Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said businesses across the country were “relieved” that an announcement had finally been made, meaning the travel and tourism industry can take bookings again.
She said she was pleased to see the list of countries “broadly aligned” with the UK Government list and understood the rationale for why Spain had not been included for now.
She added: “We are reassured by the First Minister's commitment to keep this under daily review in an attempt to identify additional mitigation measures which could be adopted quickly. We need to see Spain added to the list safely and quickly, not only for the aviation and tourism industry but also for moving freight and exports.
“Spain is an important market for Scotland and figures from VisitScotland showed visitors from Spain spent just under £80m in 2018. Business has the expertise to work with government to identify and implement additional mitigation measures to enable the restart of this important tourist and trade route, especially during the peak summer period.”
Marc Crothall, Chief Executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance said he understood the need to balance economic risks with health concerns but that the omission of Spain was a “blow” to the aviation and tourism sectors given its “huge” importance.
He added: “The Spanish market accounted for 205,000 visits to Scotland in 2018 and with many Scots now expected to shelve plans to travel to the destination, it may be likely that airlines will abandon plans to capture the summer market which would have been required to avoid mass redundancies across the sector. We are however hopeful that both Spain and Serbia may be included at the next review point on 20 July.”
