When Does Spain Go On The Green List?
When will the lists be reviewed? – Transport Secretary Grant Schapps said the lists will be updated regularly. It is expected there will be three weeks between reviews. The first review is reportedly set for the first week of June, with changes coming into force a week later.
Which countries are likely to be on the Green List?
THE government’s next travel review is expected on either Wednesday or Thursday this week, with changes to the red, amber and green list. Travel experts have already been predicting which countries are likely to switch colour, with speculation about Spain, Croatia, Madeira and Jamaica. 
2 Travel experts have already been predicting which countries are likely to switch colour, with speculation about Spain, Croatia, Madeira and Jamaica Credit: Getty – Contributor There are currently a number of holiday hotspots on the green list, the most relaxed of the lists, including Croatia , Madeira and Malta. However, the majority of the UK’s favourite destinations are on the amber list, which includes Spain , Greece , Portugal and France. So which countries are expecting to change to green, amber and red this week? We assess what the experts are saying. Paul Charles at the PC Agency has predicted that Poland , Bhutan, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Saudi Arabia will all turn green , based on their Covid rates, vaccination figures and the number of tests from returning travellers coming back positive.
- However, the government has said that there will be limited additions to the green list this week;
- There is little expectation for change among the opposition party too, as Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, a member of the Commons transport committee, said: “With Covid rates in Britain still near the highest in Europe and vaccination rates in most popular holiday destinations having caught up or overtaken the UK’s, we should be seeing a big expansion of the green list;
“But this Government has shown time and again that it couldn’t care one iota about jobs in the travel industry, families desperate to see each other again or people just hoping for a break. ” Mr Charles also predicted a number of green list destinations could turn amber, including Croatia, Madeira, Israel, Lithuania, Montserrat and the Caribbean islands of Anguilla, Antigua and Turks and Caicos.
There are high hopes for Turkey moving from the red to amber list this week, after a drop in Covid cases. Travellers returning to the UK from Turkey currently have to quarantine in a hotel for ten days, but a switch to amber would mean no quarantine at all for children and fully vaccinated Brits.
According to The Times , Test and Trace Figures show that 1. 7 per cent of people tested positive for Covid on return from Turkey in the last three weeks – the same as those arriving from Spain. Of those cases, there were between 0-3 recorded cases of variants of concern, like the Beta variant.
Data analyst Tim White believes that Turkey is a ‘”borderline candidate” for being moved to the amber list, but cited the reluctance to do so because of the lack of reliability of their data , and said that it was likely the UK was “suspicious” of the figures.
He added that the Maldives could be moved from the red list to the amber list as infection rates have dropped, adding that “virtually all restaurants and bars are open air in resorts and there’s little threat”. There are also fears for Spain moving from the amber to the red list, but Mr Charles said that the switch would be unlikely because the UK doesn’t have enough spaces in hotel quarantine to house all of the returning Brits.
He said: “”Much of Europe won’t change because the government would create utter chaos at our borders during the bank holiday weekend and week if they chose to turn some of the most popular countries red, such as Balearics or Spain, and force so many people into hotel quarantine.
” There are also fears for Jamaica, St Lucia, Dominica and Morocco moving from the amber to the red list. Such a change would cause a scramble among Brit holidaymakers to return back before the change came into force next week, or else they would have to pay £2,285 for a quarantine hotel stay.
- The last travel announcement saw seven countries – Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Norway and Romania – added to the green list;
- The controversial “amber-plus” list was also scrapped, putting France back onto the normal amber list, while the UAE was added to the amber list as well;
Mexico was added to the red list, along with Georgia, the French islands of La Reunion and Mayotte. 
2 There are high hopes for Turkey moving from the red to amber list this week, after a drop in Covid cases Credit: Alamy.
How many countries will go green Tomorrow?
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.
Spain’s Green Jobs: How successful have they been?
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 [email protected].