Ibiza, Majorca and Malta added to England's travel green list

24 June 2021, 19:34 | Updated: 24 June 2021, 23:34

Malta, Madeira and Balearics among additions to travel green list

Ibiza, Majorca, Malta and some Caribbean countries are among the popular holiday destinations to have been added to England's green travel list.

From 4am on 30 June, people travelling to those tourist hotspots will no longer have to quarantine upon return to England, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced.

It means they join the following countries on the green list: Australia, Brunei, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Iceland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, St Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha. Meanwhile, Israel and Jerusalem have been added to the greenwatch list, meaning they could be moved to amber.

The full list of countries being added is as follows: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Balearic Islands, Barbados, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Madeira, Malta, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands.

Explained: UK travel list update: Which countries are now on the green list?

Read more: Merkel's call for Brit travellers to quarantine in EU is 'unjustified' - minister

The news comes after Boris Johnson said there exists a "real opportunity to open up travel" this summer for those who have two doses of the coronavirus jab.

Meanwhile, Tunisia is among the popular destinations being added to the red list, along with the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Haiti, Mongolia and Uganda.

Asked about German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying the Delta variant meant there should be more restrictions on British travellers going abroad, the Prime Minister said: "I think that the real opportunity we all have now is to open up travel through the double jab.

"If you look at it we've got more than 60% of our population have now had two jabs, I think 83% have had one jab, we're really getting through it now. The crucial thing is come forward and get your second jab."

Northern Ireland's government appeared to leak the list earlier on Thursday after updating its own green travel list before Mr Shapps' announcement. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have made the same changes to their lists.

However, Ms Merkel is leading calls to make all UK travellers enter quarantine when they arrive in the EU due to concerns about the Delta variant.

But Environment Secretary George Eustice told LBC this morning that this measure is "unjustified".

He told Nick Ferrari: "Each country is taking their own decisions on this and so it will be for them to judge what approach they want to take.

"I'm not sure that such an approach would be justified given the highly advanced stage we are currently at now in terms of vaccination, with 80% having had one jab and now 60% having had the second jab.

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Eustice: Angela Merkel's call for EU quarantine on Brits 'unjustified'

"So I don't think such a move would be justified but obviously it's for individual countries to make these judgments."

A traffic light system determines whether passengers have to quarantine when returning from a trip overseas.

The Government says it uses factors including the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated, infections rates and the prevalence of variants of concern to determine where a country is ranked.

Travellers returning from green list countries have to take a pre-departure Covid test and a PCR test on or before day two of their arrival but do not have to quarantine if they are negative.

People coming from amber countries have to take a test before departure, quarantine for 10 days and take a PCR test on days two and eight, with the possibility of leaving isolation early.