Spain will allow travellers from Britain to visit the country without a negative PCR test for COVID-19 from Monday. This is great news and should kick-start the industry. But a word of caution; Spain is still on Britain’s “Amber List” so British tourists will have to quarantine on their return. However, it is certainly a step in the right direction.
Steve Heapey, Chief Executive of Jet2, told the Bulletin this week that he expected this state of affairs to change in June with Spain being put on the Green List and his company offering holidays to Spain from the middle of the month. The European Union also appears to have struck a deal which will allow non-EU member states to have access to the so-called vaccine passports.
It is evidently clear, bar any last-minute hiccups, that Mallorca will have a holiday season this year and the Brits will be coming. This is a clear sign of the improving situation. There will be some problems along the way, such as airport delays etc., but it is a different story to last year.
What the local tourist industry must start doing is preparing for the start of the season. Hotels, which in some cases have been closed for 18 months, must be ready along with their staff.
As I have said in this space on numerous occasions Mallorca needs tourism more than tourism needs Mallorca. There are some important lessons to be learnt from the past and what is vital is that everyone works together for the common good, in this case Majorca.