Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A British man was barred from entering Mallorca due to new Covid travel restrictions in Spain.
Following the announcement of a new variant of coronavirus earlier in December, Spain was one of the countries that banned travellers from the UK.
The country has since relaxed its protocol to allow Spanish citizens and those with residency status into the country.
All travellers are required to show proof of their status, as well as negative results of a PCR, TNA or LAMP test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival.
The restrictions are currently in effect until 5 January 2021.
But the man, who has not been identified, had flown from London Stansted to the Balearic island to visit friends on Saturday, Leicester Mercury reports.
He was blocked from entry at the airport by the national police as he couldn’t prove his residency status.
It’s not known where the man was travelling from but those living in tier 4 areas in England are currently banned from all leisure travel abroad.
The restrictions came in on 20 December, with areas in London, east and southeast of England affected initially. As of Boxing Day, a number of other regions were added to tier 4.
It’s not the first time UK travellers have been barred from entering an EU country due to coronavirus restrictions.
When borders first started closing in March, during the first wave, British travellers reported being denied entry into the Czech Republic before restrictions came into effect.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis declared a 30-day state of emergency, which was meant to start at 11pm on 13 March.
But on 12 March, travellers were already experiencing issues entering the country.
One passenger told The Independent: “We’ve heard nothing from easyJet or the airport – we only knew this was happening because a friend of ours lives in the Czech Republic and saw a press conference saying we were banned. We didn’t want to risk getting stuck there, so we turned back on our way to Gatwick.
“We still can’t get hold of the airline or our travel insurance provider, so we don’t know where we stand.”
An easyJet spokesperson told The Independent at the time: “Following a Czech Government travel update, easyJet has been advised that from today citizens from fifteen countries, including the UK, who don’t have a residency permit will not be permitted to enter the Czech Republic.
“Currently easyJet’s flying programme to and from Czech Republic remains unaffected however we would advise customers from the listed countries not to travel as they will not be permitted entry.
“We have advised all affected passengers of their alternative options by email and SMS. easyJet complies with guidance from relevant authorities.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments