Spain expects a decision very soon in its talks with Britain on whether to establish a travel corridor to facilitate tourism and avoid imposing a quarantine on travellers, a Spanish foreign ministry source said on Friday.
The source did not say if he expected a deal.
Amid repeated changes over the past weeks on when and how to open its borders to much-needed foreign tourists, Spain said on Tuesday that it was considering imposing a quarantine on British travellers in response to a similar policy announced by Britain.
Britons account for more than a fifth of the roughly 80 million tourists Spain receives every year, and Madrid had said it would talk with London to try to avoid such a quarantine at both ends.
"Spain is willing to be open to the United Kingdom, we are in talks with them about their quarantine. We are in a position to open (our borders to UK tourists) without a quarantine," the foreign ministry source said, adding that he expected a decision before Spain opens its borders to tourists from most European countries, including Britain, on Sunday.
Britain, with more than 42,000 documented coronavirus-linked deaths, and Spain, with more than 28,000, have been among the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. Both are easing lockdown restrictions, including border closures.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce on June 29 that agreements have been reached for air bridges with a "small number" countries with low levels of coronavirus infections, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Thursday.