Spanish quarantine rules not stopping Tayside holidaymakers jetting off to the sun

Changes to the rules for holidaymakers travelling to and from Spain have not stopped Tayside’s sunseekers planning to jet off for warmer climes.

Over the weekend, the UK Government announced travellers returning to the UK from Spain will have to quarantine for 14 days after a “significant change in both the level and pace” of coronavirus cases in the Mediterranean country.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has also advised against all travel to mainland Spain.

It had initially exempted islands such as the Balearics and Canaries, however, yesterday that was revised.

However, travel agents in Tayside have revealed this has not deterred those wanting to go on holiday, with jetsetters planning to go to Greece and Turkey instead.

John Stewart, manager of Hays Travel in Dundee City Square, said he and his colleagues have been busy rearranging or refunding those who had planned to travel to Spain between now and August 9.

He said: “Those who were going to cancel their holidays would have done it back in March or April and the people who intend to travel are keen to get away as planned.

“Our customers are all comfortable to continue their holidays – to quote one woman, her boss told her ‘just go on your holiday’.

“They are all going to travel as planned, so that’s where the vast majority of our bookings are for.

“We have also had a large number of last minute bookings to Greece and Turkey.

“People are willing to travel and want to go on holiday, and they want to go away now before the kids go back to school.

“Last week we had a lot of customers impacted by cancelled flights or hotels not opening up, but 95% of them rebooked which was a pleasant surprise.

“And those who are in Spain just now are advised to continue with their holiday – we have had no contact from our customers overseas wanting to return home.”

Meanwhile Russell Watkinson, director of R&B Travel in Perth, said: “The new rules will affect our customers but we don’t have as many in Spain as we would normally.

“People still want to go away so we are moving their holidays about and changing their dates.

“The handful of people we do have away in Spain are retired so the two-week quarantine won’t be as much of an issue for them.”

However, some other travel agents in the area have not been booking holidays to Spain as they feared there would be a second wave of coronavirus.

Brenda McCready, director of The Travel Bar in Blairgowrie, said: “We anticipated this happening so we didn’t encourage our customers to book anything, so we have managed to minimise the effects of this in advance.

“We don’t have any customers out in Spain because we just didn’t accept their bookings.”