Andrew EdePalma25/05/2020 17:42
TW
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In an interview at the weekend with the German newspaper Rheinische Post, the CEO of Tui, Fritz Joussen, said that Majorca will be the first destination to which the tour operator flies this summer. This will be in the second half of June. Joussen stated that Majorca will “predictably” be the first destination. Taken literally, this suggests that Tui know what will happen.

Over a month ago, Tui said much the same thing. This was before the de-escalation plan, so no date was given. As far as Tui are concerned, there now is a date, albeit a loose one. On Sunday, President Armengol restated the case for foreign tourists (German tourists) coming to the Balearics before July, which is when Pedro Sánchez says will be the date (for Spain). Yet we have previously had the national transport minister indicating an openness to the idea of German test tourist flights to the Balearics in June. When Armengol again made her case, she would have known that the state of alarm is likely to be lifted in the Balearics “over the coming days”, to quote Sánchez.

The quarantine on foreign travellers is linked to the state of alarm. If it were to be lifted early in the Balearics, would it then not apply to flights to the Balearics? One suspects that there is an unstated agreement for foreign tourist flights in June, but Spanish government statements keep adding confusion. Would Joussen have said what he did if he didn’t know?