Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

UK

Is Spain about to be added to the UK’s ‘red list’?

Health officials from the UK are this week deciding if Spain should be added to UK’s 'red list' meaning a mandatory 10-day quarantine in a government-approved hotel at a cost of £1,750 per person.

Published: 18 February 2021 16:10 CET
Is Spain about to be added to the UK’s ‘red list’?
Image: Anastasia Gepp/Pixabay

According to recent reports from The Telegraph, the Department of Transport in the UK met with health officials on Wednesday, February 17th to discuss the new Covid variants and to assess whether Spain should be added to the ‘red list’.

This means that if confirmed, anyone travelling from Spain to the UK, including British citizens, will have to quarantine in a government-approved hotel costing up to £1,750 per person.

If Spain is added to the list, passengers to the UK will have to make bookings in advance through a dedicated online portal.

The £1,750 package will include assigned government transportation from the airport or ports, food and drinks, accommodation in a government approved facility and Covid-19 tests.

The government has so far contracted 16 hotels with 4,600 rooms, but more will have to be added if Spain is put on the list.

Currently around 500 people travel from Spain to the UK every day, meaning that many will have to fork out hefty price tags if this is confirmed.

Anyone failing to declare that they arrived from a ‘red list’ country and not buying the package to quarantine for 10 days in a designated hotel, will be fined between £5,000 to £10,000.

A final decision on the new list will be decided at a Cabinet Covid meeting this week.

Countries currently on the UK’s so-called ‘red list’ include several South American and African countries, as well as the United Arab Emirates. The only European country currently on the list is Portugal.

As well as Spain, UK health officials are also considering adding the United States to the list.

Currently all passengers to the UK, no matter which country they have travelled from, need to fill out a passenger locator form and provide proof of a negative PCR test taken no more than three days before departure.

They must also self-quarantine on arrival in the UK, although can do so at a private residence.

Under the current UK rules, travellers to the UK also need to purchase a travel testing package costing £210, which includes Covid-19 tests on day two and day eight of quarantine.

Failure to comply will result in fines of a £1,000 for not getting the first test and a further £2,000 penalty for anyone who doesn’t get the second test. Full details can be found here. 

READ ALSO:

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

EES PASSPORT CHECKS

EES border checks could undergo ‘soft launch’, UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a "soft launch" of the new EU border system – the Entry/Exit (EES) system - in October but authorities are still waiting for European Commission to confirm the start date, amid concerns over the delay of a new app.

Published: 4 May 2024 09:30 CEST
EES border checks could undergo 'soft launch', UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a soft launch of the new EU border system – the entry/exit (EES) system – on the assumption that it will go live on October 6th, ministers told a hearing at the House of Commons European scrutiny committee this week.

But the European Commission is expected to confirm the exact launch date of the new biometric checks for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area at some point this summer, they added.

“We are very much working on a basis whereby this policy will go live on the 6th of October. It is important that we plan for that eventuality. We are expecting to hear definitively from the European Union that ‘go live’ arrangement in the summer,” Tom Pursglove, UK Minister for Legal Migration and the Border told the committee.

The parliamentary committee is conducting an inquiry on the disruptions the system will cause in the UK.

Pursglove also said that “precautionary measures” have been agreed by the EU, that will be put in place in certain circumstances after the start of EES, for example if delays at the borders exceeded a certain length of time.

Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, said that in practice this meant a “soft launch” of EES for 6 months before “a full go live”. During that soft launch EU member states and the UK could deploy flexibility measures should problems occur.

“The likelihood is, after multiple delays, that the 6th of October will proceed” and the implementation looks “very different” compared to previous scenarios considering the flexibility allowed in the first 6 months, he argued.

No details were given on what these “flexible” measures would involve however. 

READ ALSO: Your questions answered about Europe’s EES passport checks

He conceded that “a lot of work” still needs to be done but the UK “should be as ready as everybody” and “better be at front of the queue”.

App not ready

During the meeting, it also emerged that a much-anticipated app that would allow remote pre-registration of non-EU citizens subject to the checks will not be available for testing until August “at best”, prompting concerns about the EES launch date.

“You don’t need to be a sceptic about future projects to think that the provision of the app in August for going live in October is optimistic,” Opperman said.

Ministers confirmed that the app will not be ready in time for October and the committee previously stated it might be delayed until summer 2025.

The app will facilitate pre-registration, but photo and fingerprints will still have to be taken at the border in front of a guard, the committee heard.

READ ALSO: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Several MPs asked whether the entry into operation of the EES should be delayed again if technology is not ready. But Under-Secretary Opperman said the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

The main aim of EES is to increase security and to ensure that non-EU nationals visiting the Schengen area for a short-term do not stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

The entry into operation of the system has already been delayed several times and there have been calls from certain travel companies and national authorities to delay it again.

Under the new scheme, non-EU/EFTA travellers who do not need a visa will have to register their biometric data (finger prints and facial images) in a database that will also record each time they enter and exit the Schengen area.

Instead of having passports manually stamped, travellers will have to scan them at self-service kiosks before crossing the border. However, fingerprints and a photo will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing and there are concerns the extra time needed will generate long queues, especially in Dover, Folkestone and St. Pancras station in London, where there are juxtaposed French and UK border checks.

Progress in preparations

Minister Pursglove also updated MPs on ongoing preparations. He said some testing of the system will take place within days, 5 kiosks have been installed at St. Pancras station and are available for testing. “You are beginning to see the physical infrastructure appear,” he said.

Kiosks and extra lanes are also being created at the port Dover and it was agreed with the EU passengers travelling by coach will be checked away from the Eastern dock, where controls usually take place, allowing to gain space. The vehicles will then sealed and drive on the ferries.

MPs also discussed the infrastructure cost linked to the introduction of the EES. Opperman said all EU countries will have to make “huge investments” in their ports. In the UK, he argued, this will help “address problems that have existed for some time”. Because of this “massive investment”, in a few years time “Dover will be totally transformed,” he said.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

SHOW COMMENTS