Foreign Office issues important major update for travel advice to Spain

Spain's state of emergency is set to be lifted on June 21, allowing some countries to visit again.

And in anticipation, the Foreign Office has changed its advice on entry requirements to Spain.

The advice now states: "The State of Emergency (“Estado de Alarma”) declared on 14 March, will end on June 21.

"From this date, Spain will re-open its borders to European Union and Schengen-area countries (with the exception of Portugal where the restrictions will continue to apply up until 1 July), and travellers from the UK.

"This means that British nationals will no longer need to present a residency certificate to enter Spain.

"The Spanish Government has said that it is possible that UK travellers will still need to quarantine on arrival in Spain, but that decision has not yet been taken.

"Restrictions on travellers from outside the European Union and the Schengen free-travel area will be lifted from July 1 providing the countries they depart from have agreements with Spain."

The change to the official advice follows 24 hours of confusion earlier this week on whether Brits would be allowed entry.

It was initially thought that only members of the Schengen zone would be allowed entry to Spain.

The Foreign Ministry later clarified that EU member states are also included, and that the UK is still part of this group during the transition phase.

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated Spain's tourism industry, which accounts for around 12% of Spain's GDP and provides millions of jobs.

Currently the Foreign Office warns against all but non essential travel abroad.

Travellers arriving in the UK face 14 days of isolation under mandatory quarantine rules - with fines threatened for anyone who flouts the rules.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the government is looking at the idea of "air bridges” which would allow Brits to dodge quarantine when arriving back home after travelling, as well as any isolation requirements in the selected country abroad.