Warning

On Saturday evening they announced that they were introducing a 14-day quarantine period for all returning British travellers from Spain (the Balearics included). But the Balearics and the Canary Islands were not included on the “non-essential travel hit list.” So thousands of British tourists on Majorca suddenly discovered that they would have to quarantine on their return but their travel insurance was still valid.

The British and Balearic tourist industry went into overdrive to assure tourists that everything was OK despite the quarantine. On Monday afternoon the Balearics was given fresh hope, with a report in a leading British tabloid newspaper quoting government sources, saying that the quarantine period for British travellers to the Balearics would be scrapped. There was light at the end of the tunnel. But just four hours later the British government announced that they would be banning all but essential travel to the Balearics.

The initial euphoria following the tabloid newspaper report disappeared and the sense of gloom re-appeared. Now, I know that this is a fast moving crisis but surely the British government could give tourists and the travel industry a little more notice? The quarantine period was introduced within hours of the announcement and the essential travel move came at a time when the Balearic was fighting their corner hard. Johnson is not too popular on Majorca.