Rising numbers of infections: all of Spain is becoming a corona risk area

The federal government declares Spain a risk area from Sunday due to the increasing number of corona infections. This also applies to Mallorca and the Canaries. In addition, Cyprus is now considered a high incidence area with a particularly high risk of infection.

Due to the sharp rise in the number of corona infections, the federal government is classifying all of Spain and thus Mallorca and the Canary Islands as a risk area from Sunday. This was announced by the Robert Koch Institute.

This means that the Federal Foreign Office will again advise against tourist trips to the Germans’ favorite holiday destination in the middle of the summer vacation. However, there are hardly any practical consequences for holidaymakers: Those who return to Germany by plane from Spain must, as before, have a negative test or proof of full vaccination or recovery with them. This then eliminates the quarantine obligation.

The new classifications are the result of the significant increase in the number of infections in many regions of Europe. Meanwhile the incidence in the Balearic Islands, which also includes Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, is already 141 on average. In all of Spain it is even 179. Six of the 17 regions – including the holiday areas Catalonia and Andalusia – as well as the exclave of Ceuta in North Africa are already considered risk areas. The Balearic Islands with Mallorca, the most popular holiday island for Germans, and the Canary Islands have so far been spared.

Canaries want to introduce curfew

The regional government of the Canary Islands announced on Thursday that it would ask the Supreme Court to enforce a curfew between 00:30 and 6 a.m. on the tourist island of Tenerife. “The pressure on hospitals is starting to grow. In Tenerife the occupation of intensive care units is around 15 percent and young people are also being admitted,” said Angel Victor Torres, President of the Canary Islands.

Minister of Tourism: Spain remains “safe travel destination”

This morning, the Spanish Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto, described Spain as “a safe travel destination”. Other governments should “not sound the alarm,” said Maroto after French State Secretary for European Affairs Clément Beaune advised his compatriots to avoid Spain and Portugal for their summer vacation.

In a radio interview, Maroto criticized the fact that many countries only decided on the basis of the incidence number which regions they classified as risk areas. She referred to the low hospital occupancy in Spain because at the moment it is mainly young, unvaccinated people who are infected, who usually have a mild course of the disease and do not have to go to clinics.

A year ago the health system was on the verge of collapse – now the situation is completely different, stressed Francina Armengol, Prime Minister of the Balearic Islands. Also because of the vaccination campaign. Armengol indicated that Mallorca and Co. will not return to the restrictive policy of the past months, so no new strict restrictions are planned.

Cyprus now high incidence area

The situation on the holiday island of Cyprus is even more serious, which from Sunday will even be classified as a high incidence area with particularly high numbers of infections. Anyone who goes on vacation there and has not been vaccinated or recovered will have to be in quarantine for five to ten days in the future.

The country was declared a risk area just last Sunday. Just a week later, it is now being upgraded to one of four high-incidence areas in Europe alongside Portugal, Great Britain and Russia.

Countries and regions in which the new infections per 100,000 inhabitants are over 50 in seven days are classified as risk areas. It is the lowest of three risk levels. Mallorca was removed from the list of risk areas in mid-March.

If the incidence is over 200, there is a risk of being classified as a high-incidence area with mandatory quarantine for those who have not been vaccinated or have recovered. Only then could significant consequences be expected for the travel industry.