Do you think the British will be more welcome in Spain/Italy/Portugal or the South west of England in July?

[ihatethecold]

Just pondering really, Our holiday abroad will be cancelled by the TA next week (Asia) and we've been thinking about whether we could have a week away in a villa in the welcoming, open places in Europe or Cornwall/ Devon?

Im not convinced that Devon and Cornwall actually wants anyone visiting?

I do understand why, I know they only have 1 main hospital.Im not here to criticise them for wanting to protect themselves. If the virus does become weaker and less virulent do the locals what tourism this summer?

Would we be more welcome in parts of Europe?

Thank you for this thread, it's interesting to see the point of view from people actually living in Portugal! We're due to go to the Algarve in August. Personally I'm quite happy if it gets cancelled, my worry is if we're allowed in and flights are running then we have to go otherwise we lose around £4000 if we just decide we don't want to! We have a villa booked and are happy to stay there for the week with minimal interaction with any locals. I just think as soon as they discover we're British we'll be frog marched out of any shop or restaurant 😆 I know the Algarve relies heavily on tourism but thought in all honesty they wouldn't want ours!
It may be a moot point anyway as we still may not be able to go, but it's nice to think if we do have to we may not be as ostracised as we thought!
Also, to be pp who said the Portuguese supposedly hate us Brits. When we holidayed there a few years ago we met a lovely Portuguese couple living in a villa near where we were staying. She had previously studied here in England so knew that not all English people are like 'Brits Abroad', however, he was a firefighter, and hated us, simply because he spends all his summers dealing with drunk, rowdy, aggressive British tourists. It was interesting but also embarrassing. (Luckily he thought we were very nice 😆)

To be fair, have you seen the British on ‘The Strip’ in Albufeira?

And the common perception of many Brit holidaymakers in Magaluf, Falaraki etc etc isn’t completely without basis, is it? I have never seen other nationalities behave like this in holiday.

The drunk, rowdy Brits are loathed everywhere though (with good reason) and the whole Brexit situation has made us a bit of a laughing stock, but historically the Portuguese have been more welcoming than e.g. Spain.

Best to avoid The Strip anyway, I’d say, it’s bloody awful.

Oh, god, we had a lovely week in Albufeira, very civilised, up the hill above the Old town, opposite side from the strip.

Poked our noses over the hill one evening, just to see if there might be good restaurants: retreated instantly.

The Portuguese are our oldest allies. I'm sure a lot of people hate drunken louts but having been holidaying in Portugal since the 80s I can confirm I've never had any problems with the Portuguese. I'll find them to be lovely friendly welcoming people. Very relaxed and family orientated.

yinminblue we stayed in a town not far from Albuferia. Would never go there again. It was a last minute out of season deal so not as bad as summer, but still one of the worst holidays there we've had. Thumping nightclub music every night, the beach was full of litter and cigarette butts and nowhere did a nice breakfast that didn't involve a full English and pint of Carling. It was only when we got home we realised it's known as the Ayia Napa of Portugal. ..

I never realised people wanted to be so loved when they went away

You don't need to be loved, just treated civilly (it's nice if someone can crack a smile).

Devon has more than one hospital by the way. In fact it has at least five or six (not all with A&E). And the fact that the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust has hospitals in the plural in its name points to Cornwall having more than one too.

I keep reading on here that Cornwall only has one main hospital.
That hospital wouldn’t cope with extra cv patients so we should all stay away.

Go to South Wales instead of Cornwall. Much nicer beaches, quieter, cheaper and easily accessible.

I can't help but be dumbfounded at the numbers of people rubbing their hands and saying 'great, Portugal it is then' now that the country is thinking of setting up this 'air bridge' agreement (it's not a done deal yet!). Portugal is a fairly poor EU country and the south will lose out massively if North European tourists don't visit this summer ...but Portugal also had one of the lowest levels of infection in Europe. We have the worst stats. Why on earth do they want us?? Other countries have indicated that UK tourists won't be welcome. This is hard, but understandable. I'm terrified that Portugal will suffer for this (let's face it) economic decision.

Most of my family are Portuguese. We're not thinking of taking our annual break there this summer because we don't want to pass it on to my parents, or to anyone else even if we don't see my parents while there.

Aside from that, are you all comfortable about going through an airport and sitting on a plane breathing other people's air? I just don't get it. Things aren't 'back to normal' and we shouldn't expect them to be.

Assuming any of us are actually allowed abroad this summer, please wear fabric masks when in close quarters with other people. They might desperately need the tourist income but they don't need a spike in cases.

GlomOfNit we have been following all the social distancing and isolation guidance throughout lockdown so are confident that we are not infected. There are also no infections in our town whatsoever. So I can be confident that we will not be taking the disease to Portugal with us.

With regard to the air air on the plane I understand that everybody will have to wear a mask and that aeroplanes have very good air filtration systems.

Here’s why:Most modern aeroplanesuse High Efficiency Particulate Air (Hepa) filters to clean the air inside of them. These filtration systems are largely the same as those used in conventional operating theatres, explains Shaheen Mehtar, who is the chair of the education working group theInfection Control Africa Network, a professional association for specialists.

Hepa filters remove up to 99.9% of even extremely tiny particles between 0.1 to 0.3 microns in size, says the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which sets standards for the airline industry.The filters clean the air, which is then returnedto the cabin mixed with 50% clean air from outside, the airline association explains in a 2018 briefing paper.

bhekisisa.org/health-news-south-africa/2020-06-03-coronavirus-fact-check-does-the-recycled-air-on-planes-really-put-you-at-a-high-risk-of-infection/

Treliske has been practically shut down aside from a&e and maternity as far as I can tell.
People are being distributed to the minor injuries units dotted around when necessary.
I think appointments and clinics are being steadily opened again now.

I think when we were seeing those awful images out of Italy with people dying on stretchers in the corridors, it made everyone panic. But that hasn’t happened down here (yet?)

I really don’t believe that the way some 'groups' and individuals post on SM should be considered representative of either an entire region, or indeed industry.
But that is an unfashionable view at the moment.

Thanks Thursday

I’ve noticed and seen emails/fb posts that holiday rentals/B & B’s In the UK are posting that they can take bookings from the 4th July.

Visiting parents or staying at a tourist facilities is different.

Tourist accommodations have acquired standards of cleaning between guests and restaurants have guidelines and PPE.

BTW, beware that pubs, bars and night entertainment may not open any time soon. Only theatres or concert halls with allocated seating.

We are operating under the assumption that everyone could be infected, that tourists could be infected and that staff could too.
Hotels have received health personnel working with covid and who didn't want to go home to protect their families. As far as I know that's been done safely.

Very different from families who will soon forget social distancing rules.

Unfortunately I have to go to Cornwall in July if we are able to so I can visit elderly DF who is not coping well with lockdown and not eating very well and getting very depressed apparently. I don't have that much contact with him but feel I should go so have booked our caravan into a site nearby so we can visit, I think he would come under the description of a vulnerable person for visiting so if we need to go into his house we will.

After seeing the litter and crap (literally) that Brits are leaving on beaches at the moment I am amazed any countries want us to visit (virus or no virus)