Travel advice for Spain tightened, the Canary Islands on ‘orange’ after all

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs puts the whole of Spain on orange. With that it abandons the regional approach. Because of the tightening, the negative advisory now applies to the Canary Islands too.

The decision raises cautious questions in the travel world.

In some parts of Spain there is said to be little going on. And for France the advisories do stay region-specific. What is more, certain destinations abroad may be safer than their Dutch counterparts.

All of Spain orange: the ministry and the health institute point at each other

ESPANJE! calls putting the whole of Spain on orange ‘unequal treatment’. Today the travel and culture magazine seeks an explanation from Foreign Affairs, among others.

A ministry spokesperson responds: “All I know is that the institute first chopped Spain into pieces and now sees it as one whole.” Quite; which is why ‘ESPANJE!’ got in touch.

The spokesperson can do little with the barrage of questions. “(…) If the institute believes a whole country poses a danger, we follow that advice. They have the expertise and can make the judgement.”

The Spain glossy's editors then turn to the institute, which points back to the ministry. “(…) It is hard for us to distinguish. (…) We see that Spain is testing more now and the situation may improve or stabilise from next week. But if you really want to know more about how that is drawn up per region, you need Foreign Affairs.”

Another blow for the Canary Islands

The national approach is another blow for the Canary Islands.

After the first wave, at the end of March and start of April, there were relatively few infections for months. Even so, most tourists stayed away, partly because of Spanish reports that foreign tourists would not be welcome until the last quarter.

The Algemeen Dagblad worked out the consequences yesterday. In July, 65 to 75 per cent fewer travellers arrived through the airports than in the same month last year. Disastrous.

Given the low number of infections, at the beginning of August the island group felt confident enough to welcome tourists with immediate effect and to cover any corona costs. Painfully, things went wrong quickly after that news. Infection numbers shot up again.

Now, 20 days later, code orange applies after all. And for the Canary Islands that is understandable. That is how fast it can go. One consolation for the tourists already there: the extra costs are covered…