Tourism minister Iago Negueruela told the Balearic parliament on Tuesday that "there is no airport in the world performing PCR tests" on passengers.
Responding to questions from Jorge Campos of Vox, Negueruela added that the Spanish government has now started holding meetings with other governments, e.g. the UK, about the reestablishment of safe air corridors with the Balearics.
The minister replied to Campos by pointing out that there have been two plans to reactivate the tourism sector. The first was the pilot plan in June, and the second is the agreement between the Spanish government and the governments in the Balearics and the Canaries regarding the protocols for safe corridors. The regional government's sole objectives, he stressed, "are to revive the economy and to ensure that employees have jobs".
The agreement, as previously reported, would involve tests at point or origin and destination for passengers coming from countries with an incidence rate of over 50 per 100,000 inhabitants. Negueruela explained that the European Union is also looking to gain agreement in this regard for the movement of people.
Campos insisted that there are airports where tests are carried out, referring to Germany and to Brussels. He criticised Negueruela and President Armengol for the "worst tourist data in Spain and Europe" and told the minister that he was "not up to the job". He called on him to resign "before the citizens throw him out".
2 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Minister is blatantly lying.
How can ministers get away spouting such nonsense? Maybe he should fly to Athens and see for himself, to name one airport I know first hand they do. Not to mention Hong Kong, JFK, Tampa, LaGuardia, Miami, Dallas and many more. I recently flew to Athens and I had to have a negative PCR test, max 72 hours, plus a PLF form all filled out and printed min 48 hours before departure with all my details, where I was going, where I was staying, where I came from, etc etc. Then I got sent the QR code on the day of departure. In Madrid, 5 people got refused onto the flight for lack of either PCR tests or the PLF locator form. So you cannot even board a plane to Athens, without the correct paperwork and certificates. Upon arrival in Athens, there were about 10 testing stations just in the area I arrived in, where people got randomly tested, eventhough they had the negative test result with them. I luckily could just walk out. So that is how it should be and how Greece does so much better than other EU countries.