The Interview Javier Piñanes


Spanish Tourist Office (UK)


The tourist board director wishes the UK had imposed travel restrictions to specific regions of Spain rather than the whole country, he tells Travel Weekly


Q.Do you disagree with some or all of the UK government’s decisions regarding travel to Spain? We respect the decisions made by the UK government but our preference would be that decisions are made solely and exclusively on epidemiological criteria on a regional basis rather than a nationwide policy. There are very popular destinations in Spain which have extremely low infection rates, such as the Canary Islands, well below the figures in the United Kingdom, and our objective would be that the current travel advice and quarantine measures are lifted for those specific regions.


Q.How much notice were you given about the quarantine being extended to the islands, and then about the FCO advice changing to include the islands? We were given an indication of this from our ministry of tourism shortly before the advice was changed.


12 13 AUGUST 2020


Q.Were you consulted by the UK government? Yes, there is ongoing dialogue between our governments.


Q. Is there any medical evidence of increases in infection rates that would support the UK government’s stance? Yes, there are localised outbreaks in some of our regions. A large percentage of these are in the regions of Catalonia, Aragon and Navarra; however, many regions have very low infection rates and very few or no hospital admissions. Despite the infection rates, this has not put pressure on our healthcare system. In the last seven days, there have been 37 ICU admissions in the whole of Spain.


Q. Are you trying to get the decisions overturned? We endorse policies based on safety and scientific evidence. What we are asking for is that decisions


are adjusted on a regional basis, based solely and exclusively on epidemiological criteria.


Q. Are you confident of getting any changes made and seeing British tourists back in numbers this summer? This will be based on the evolution of the crisis, not just in Spain but also in the UK. We would certainly hope for a swift revision of the current advice.


Q. Are you taking any practical steps – as well as lobbying – to make sure the decision is reversed,


or to make sure restrictions aren’t imposed again? Our government is in dialogue with the UK government. Many of the regional governments have also voiced their opinions about the blanket travel advice and have called for revisions of the current advice.


Q.How much is this hurting the Spanish tourism industry? Hugely. Tourism is one of our primary industries and there are many regions, such as the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Andalusia, the region of Valencia and


There are destinations in Spain which have extremely low infection rates, such as the Canary Islands, and our objective would be


for travel advice to be lifted for those regions travelweekly.co.uk


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