Since the UK announced that Portugal was on itsgreen list, hotel chains all over the country have seen a substantial increase in bookings from potential British holidaymakers. Given that it’s the only country in Europe that has no quarantine restrictions in place, thousands of Brits have been planning to spend their summer holidays basking in the Portuguese sun.
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However, all their plans came to a screeching halt yesterday when the Portuguese government announced that it was extending its domestic lockdown restrictions until 30 May.
Official welcome
After a whole day of speculation and worry, the Portuguese Minister of State Foreign Affairs finally cleared the air, and declared that their “state of calamity” will not affect international travel. A statement from Visit Portugal said:
The options are wide for the British Tourists to visit Portugal, from any point. People from the United Kingdom have visited Portugal and celebrated our culture, traditions, landmarks, history, and enjoyed our warm hospitality for decades.
We look forward to welcome all travellers coming from the UK.
Although Brits will not be expected to quarantine upon arrival, travellers must take a PCR test within 72 hours of departure.
Relief for tourists and football fans
The news has come as a huge relief for thousands of holidaymakers and football fans who have already booked their tickets to visit Portugal in the coming weeks. And it could not have come at a better time, with the Champions League final taking place in Porto on 29 May. Now football fans can be confident that they will be able to see the game between Manchester City and Chelsea with their own eyes.
To keep up with the holiday spirit and meet customer demands, RyanAir has added 175,000 extra seats to Portugal from the UK. The airline’s marketing director, Dara Brady announced:
We are very pleased to announce 175,000 extra seats to Portugal on the back of the UK’s green list. With quarantine-free travel now permitted to the likes of Faro, Lisbon and Porto, even more flights have been added to our UK schedule in order to meet the demand from our customers.
