Spain goes on the offensive against UK over 'unjust' quarantine rule
The Spanish Prime Minister has condemned the British government's quarantine decision as “inappropriate" and “unjust”.
Pedro Sanchez claimed in an interview with local broadcaster Telecinco that the places heavily dependent on British tourists such as the Balearics and the Canary Islands are safe destinations.
He added that the spike in the number of new cases in Spain this week were recorded in the north-eastern regions of Catalonia and Aragon which are less frequented by British tourists.
Echoing the Spanish PM's position, Conservative MP Chris Bryant, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for Spain, said: “there are many, many regions of Spain which have much lower infection rates than many areas in the UK ... I think this has been terribly badly handled".
The Spanish PM also accused the UK of making an "error" by over-estimating the infection rate for the whole country.
In addition, Sanchez confirmed that the Spanish government is in talks with the British authorities "to try to convince them" to reconsider the unsuitable measures.
Meanwhile, the British Government is not showing any sign of changing its mind over the issue.
To that end, Tory MP, Simon Clarke, proclaimed: "We respectfully disagree with the Spanish government's position on this". Clarke was adamant that there had been a "sharp increase" in Covid-19 cases in Spain.
In a further twist, the Telegraph (July 27) claimed that "quarantine for people arriving from Spain and other countries with high levels of Covid-19 will be cut to 10 days [provided they test negative] under plans being finalized by ministers”.
But this account is contradicted by cabinet office minister Michael Gove who told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland that the news amounts to "speculation".
For his part, Clarke made the following unequivocal statement on the issue: "What I can say is that there have been thousands of new cases in Spain over recent days, therefore it's an entirely plausible scenario that people have returned to the UK carrying the virus ... Even if the risk is one that hasn't materialized, frankly it's one we need to close off."
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