Spain Not On Red List?

Spain Not On Red List
It is ‘very unlikely’ tourists returning from Spain will need to book a £1,750 quarantine hotel stay, a Whitehall source has said (Picture: Reuters/Rex) Spain has escaped the travel red list as infections fall and ministers worry there wouldn’t be enough quarantine hotel beds to go around, reports claim. Holidaymakers are expected to avoid a ten-day, £1,750 stay in a Government-approved hotel as the Beta variant fails to take hold over there. Meanwhile, The Times claims up to ten countries could go green tomorrow, while The Telegraph says this number may be as high as 15.

This includes Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Poland;
A Whitehall source said any top destinations being moved to the red list was out of the question this summer;
They said: ‘Spain won’t be going on the amber watchlist — the only danger is it going red but that’s very unlikely;

‘ The source continued: ‘The truth is that none of the mass market destinations can really go red at the height of the holiday season. ‘It would cause so much disruption to so many people and we have not got anywhere near enough capacity for hotel quarantine.

‘ The 10-day quarantine for fully vaccinated tourists returning from France is also likely to be removed on Thursday. France is on the amber list – which would normally mean double-jabbed people would evade isolation upon return.

But the UK Government announced new restrictions on July 16 amid concerns of the ‘persistent presence’ of the Beta variant, first found in South Africa. ‘None of the mass market destinations can really go red at the height of the holiday season’, the source claimed (Picture: Reuters) Only 0. 4% of infections in France are now down to the Beta strain, while this figure stands at 0. 5% in Spain. It comes after a plan to create an ‘amber watch list was abandoned ‘ following strong backlash from Tory and Labour MPs and the travel industry. The new category was designed for countries at risk of being moved into the red list.

But the prime minister was forced into yet another U-turn after key members of his Cabinet – including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps – refused to back his proposal. Three hundred travel firms have urged the Government to use a simple red-green list system to sidestep further chaos for families.

Paul Charles of The PC Agency travel consultancy said: ‘Overseas travel has to be simplified further. ‘American citizens don’t have to put up with an opaque and inconsistent Government traffic lights system in order to go places, so why should UK citizens?’ Boris Johnson said this week he wants a ‘simple and user-friendly’ travel system.

When asked if he personally backed the new list, he replied: ‘I understand how much people plan, prepare, for the summer holidays. ‘But we have also got to remember this is still a dangerous virus and we must try and stop variants coming in, must stop importing variants from abroad, so we have to have a balanced approach.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘We recognise this is a challenging period for the sector, as we seek to balance the timely reopening of international travel while safeguarding public health and protecting the vaccine rollout. ‘ Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.

How many endangered species are there in Spain?

This list shows the IUCN Red List status of 115 mammal species occurring in Spanish territory in the Iberian Peninsula. Seven species are endangered , thirteen are vulnerable , and three are near threatened. If the IUCN Red List status of a species in Spain differs from its global status, the status in Spain is shown next between brackets. The following tags are used to highlight each species’ conservation status as assessed on the respective IUCN Red List:

EX	Extinct	No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
EW	Extinct in the wild	Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized populations well outside its previous range.
CR	Critically endangered	The species is in imminent risk of extinction in the wild.
EN	Endangered	The species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
VU	Vulnerable	The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
NT	Near threatened	The species does not meet any of the criteria that would categorise it as risking extinction but it is likely to do so in the future.
LC	Least concern	There are no current identifiable risks to the species.
DD	Data deficient	There is inadequate information to make an assessment of the risks to this species.