Spain ban against foreign tourists this summer

ALTHOUGH nothing has officially been announced, the government is expected to ban foreign tourists from entering Spain this summer, a time when the vast majority of them head for the countries thousands of beach resorts. Sources close to the Executive understand an international travel ban, at least for non-essential trips such as holidays, is likely to remain in place until at least the autumn. If the coronavirus spread continues to lessen, the beaches are expected to open at some stage in the next few months, leaving the question of domestic tourism, still the largest sector for many resorts. The government has three realistic choices; to allow people within Spain to travel as they want, to continue with the travel ban within Spain or to allow people to travel but with restrictions. Many of the larger resorts would like to see active promotion of domestic travel to partly compensate for the loss in foreign tourists. Many depend on the summer influx to prop them up financially the rest of the year and would welcome the relaxing of rules on domestic travel. However, many others fear a surge in visitors from viral epicentres such as Madrid and Catalonia.