Fiona Govan
BRITISH Transport Minister Grant Shapps confirmed that the islands of Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca and Formentera would be downgraded to amber from Monday at 4am BST.
This means that from Monday, those over 18 years old and not double-jabbed by the NHS will have to quarantine on returning to the UK from the Balearic Islands.
The downgrade coincides with new rules that will see quarantine scrapped for those who can show an NHS record of full vaccination.
After being put on the UK’s green travel list just three weeks ago, the Balearic Islands have seen a surge in infections as the fifth wave takes a grip across Spain.
According to the latest data, the infection rate has risen to 282 new cases per 100,000 in the Balearic Islands in the last seven days – only three weeks ago there were just 50 cases.
Meanwhile the average infection rate across Spain has tripled in just two weeks to 437 cases per 100,000 people over 14 days, according to Monday’s Health Ministry report.
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