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Boris Johnson defends government’s Spain travel restrictions

The prime minister has defended the “swift and decisive action” the government took to restrict travel to and from Spain.

Boris Johnson was promoting UK holidays during a visit to Nottinghamshire today, when he warned against a second wave across Europe.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: “What we have to do is take swift and decisive action where we think that the risks are starting to bubble up again.

“Let’s be absolutely clear about what’s happening in Europe, amongst some of our European friends, I’m afraid you are starting to see in some places the signs of a second wave of the pandemic.”

Asked about reports that the 14-day period could be reduced to ten days, as reported by the Daily Telegraph, he said “we are always looking at ways in which we can mitigate the impact of the quarantine”.

“At the moment you have got to stick with the guidance that we are giving, we have given the guidance now about Spain and about some other places around the world,” he said.

The travel industry has been left reeling in response to the government’s decision to implement a quarantine on people returning from Spain – and Foreign Office advice against all but essential travel to the UK’s biggest outbound market.

Airlines and tour operators have called for regional air bridges to be implemented meaning islands such as the Canaries could be visited by Brits without restrictions – and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has said the decision was an “error”.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, local government minister Simon Clarke reported a 75% increase in cases reported between the middle of last week and the end of last week.

“That’s why we took the action that we have,” he said.


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