Britain refuses to lift quarantine. archive photo | Ultima Hora

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The travel industry in the Balearic Islands and in Britain has suffered a massive blow after the UK refused to lift its 2-week quarantine.

British Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps says there will be no rethink over Britain's two week quarantine period until June 29, at the earliest, despite Spain saying that British tourists could also have to self isolate when they arrived in Spain.

The Spanish Foreign Minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya says she hoped Britain would lift its restrictions, making a reciprocal Spanish one unnecessary.

"We will be in a dialogue with the UK to see whether or not we should be introducing reciprocity as they have different measures than the rest of the European Union," she told BBC Current Affairs programme HARDtalk.

With more than 41,000 deaths from coronavirus in Britain and over 27,000 in Spain, they are two of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic.

Spanish officials did not mention any quarantine curbs on Sunday, when the Government confirmed that European visitors will be allowed back into the country on June 21 instead of waiting until July 1.

Spain has caused confusion in neighbouring countries and exasperated the travel industry in recent weeks, by repeatedly changing the date and conditions for lifting its ban on foreign visitors.