Does it take the BBC to put a rocket under the Spanish government? In the bowels of Spain’s foreign ministry, if not the tourism, health or interior ministries, one imagines that someone is charged with monitoring what the likes of the BBC have to say about Spain. If so, then an alert should duly have been raised.
Media in Spain, including the Bulletin, have been highlighting the problem created by Spain’s insistence on double vaccination for British teenagers ever since it was decreed. This is a problem that has not been lost on the British media either.
But once the BBC gets involved, does this provide the real incentive for the government to amend its regulation?
As Steve Heapy of Jet2 has noted: “Families have been reluctant to book if the children aren’t vaccinated. They don’t have the confidence to book.” For Jet2 and other operators, holidays to the Canaries have been affected in particular - it’s high season in the Canaries. The president of the islands has been in regular contact with the national ministries of health and tourism and has suggested that a solution is on its way.
He said this a few days ago. How long can it take to present a solution which, for instance, means a test rather than double vaccination?
The BBC’s intervention is therefore timely. Think what you like about the BBC, but it does carry a heck of a lot of clout. Memo from the Spanish foreign ministry to other relevant ministries - Get this sorted!