UK air bridges 'could be pulled at last minute' as concerns grow over coronavirus spike in Spain

UK air bridges could reportedly be pulled last minute as concerns continue to grow over a spike in coronavirus cases in Spain.

The current list of "safe" countries is currently to be reviewed every three weeks.

However, ministers intend to replace the review with one in which countries are added or excluded at short notice depending on spikes or drops in cases, the Telegraph understands.

The publication reports that the Government is expected to announce a rolling review system that could see countries placed on its "red list" very quickly.

This means that holidaymakers could travel abroad only to discover that they may be forced into quarantine on their return before they end their trip.

The Government is also reportedly expected to announce that Spain will remain on its "safe" list despite a surge in Covid-19 outbreaks that has prompted local lockdowns.

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The first review is understood to make very few changes to the 74 destinations exempted from the 14-day quarantine in the first list of "safe" countries.

Portugal was controversially left off the list and now remains fearful it will not be added despite an intensive lobbying campaign.

Rita Marques, Portugal's tourism minister, said she was concerned the country's "red list" status would not change if the UK Government kept using the same infection rate criteria as before.

Manuel Lobo Antunes, Portugal's ambassador, also warned the publication the economic damage would be "immense and lasting".

Portugal confirmed 229 new virus cases on Thursday, of which just 10 were in the Algarve.

Spain has seen outbreaks in Catalonia, Aragon and the Basque region with 2,615 new cases on Thursday. This compares with a daily average of just 132 in June.

One town in south-east Spain was closed off on Thursday after 55 people who met at a bar tested positive for coronavirus.

Authorities in Totana, Murcia, which has 32,000 inhabitants, were testing 300 people who were at a bar at the time of the outbreak on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Catalan regional government is thinking about restricting people from going out at night in Barcelona.

It comes as four million people in in the city and the surrounding area were asked to stay at home on Friday.

The surge in cases has prompted scores of British holidaymakers to cancel at the last minute, tourist authorities said.

Elizabeth Keegan, the director of tourism in Lloret de Mar, a resort 48 miles north of Barcelona, told The Telegraph: "We are getting cancellations from Britain, France and Belgium. The 120 hotels here are about 65 per cent full and they are normally 100 per cent full at this time of year.

"We are getting calls from Britain asking if we are in Catalonia because they have heard the news about the cases in Barcelona."

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