TUI have cancelled all flights to Spain!

[Overseasmom100]

Just read this am shocked!!

FloggingMoll that's awful.

I'm feeling very strange about it all at the mo. I'm very worried that my safe little town will be badly hit, but only time will tell. Had a chat with a lovely tourist who said she could see how much effort the locals had made to ensure tourists could visit safely, and she was very shocked to see how others were behaving. I've been pretty chilled out about it all up til now.

Let's face it, this government couldn't fuck things up any more if they tried. They don't try to stop illegal raves and demos in our country. They pay lip service to face masks. But they ban travel to a country which has a lower infection rate than the UK.

They haven't banned travel. Just said you have to quarantine on return

FCO now only advise non-essential travel for mainland Spain, so don't think you are covered by insurance if you travel there.

Correct, @ineedaholidaynow. So it's effectively a travel ban.

Maybe the people who are shocked are the ones who've been reading the anti-dementor threads

So TUI have now all amended for the Canaries. Flights going ahead.

Well when we booked, we did so because the advice was that it was safe to do so
TBF more fool you for believing anything Boris (and his gov) has to say. He's totally out of his depth and is like a rudderless ship in the night.
He has no control over the country whatsoever, and no one seems to be specifically following the government's/his advice. He lost what little control he may have had, when he backed Dominic Cummings and refused to sanction/sack him. Boris can't even enforce mask wearing in England! The Police, the corporate companies and individuals are all following their own gut feelings and refusing to enforce the law?/ mandotory guidelines?/ meek suggestions? and the whole thing is bedlam!
As someone who has, and continues to shield, my blood is boiling!!! We could have been so much further ahead with controlling Covid if everyone had taken a greater role in protecting each other from the start, and acted in the shorter term for the greater good by wearing masks and following SD etc. We could have controlled the figures and kept them much lower with relatively low impact measures if individuals had been willing to accept the lockdown measures more.
I have COPD (among other health issues) and even I'm capable of wearing a mask for short periods! It's a small price to pay if it may protect us all more.

@ineedaholidaynow

FCO now only advise non-essential travel for mainland Spain, so don't think you are covered by insurance if you travel there.

Essential, you mean?

@Iamthewombat

Yes, wicked old TUI, eh? Following advice and acting responsibly. The rotters.

What sort of kicking would they have got if they had flown people abroad and those people had brought the virus back? Probably from the same people whining now about their holiday being cancelled.

As for this:

Thousands of people are now in limbo. Booked in good faith.

The phrase “in good faith” regularly entertains me. The people using it seldom think about what it means. In this instance, somebody booked a holiday and now can’t go but because it was “booked in good faith” - ie they booked it expecting everything to proceed as they wanted irrespective of pesky things like government advice or pandemics - they want somebody to be sorry.

Genuinely thought that it was as safe as here.

Well, now you know that it isn’t. C’est la vie.

And loads of friends in tourist and airline jobs are desperate for people to take holidays.

Yes, of course they are, because they don’t want to be furloughed or laid off - it must be difficult for cabin crew and resort staff - but TUI, who employ some of these people, have more sense.

Well, it WAS safe, but things changed. The world changes from day to day, week to week. Things happen, you know?!

The government are being quite offensively stupid about this, it's only one (holiday) area of Spain that has had a spike in case, and the Balearic Islands have hardly any. And including the Canary Islands, FFS, they are nearer to Africa.

Mind you, it doesn't surprise me, Dominic Raab couldn't find his arse with both hands, never mind point to the Canary Islands on a map.

They are determined to shit up this country as much as possible with their utter cack-handedness.

@fascinated good spot! Makes all the difference.

Why would anyone think it was safe is beyond me. The virus is spread via people, we all know this. It therefore doesn’t take much brain power to work out that the more people there are in a space/area then the more cases there will be.

If people chose to book a holiday that is their choice but please don’t moan when it all goes tits up.

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@fascinated good spot! Makes all the difference.[/quote]
It was probably obvious, as it’s easily done, but just in case someone reading is relying on it...

*The government are being quite offensively stupid about this, it's only one (holiday) area of Spain that has had a spike in case, and the Balearic Islands have hardly any. And including the Canary Islands, FFS, they are nearer to Africa.

Mind you, it doesn't surprise me, Dominic Raab couldn't find his arse with both hands, never mind point to the Canary Islands on a map.

They are determined to shit up this country as much as possible with their utter cack-handedness.*

Totally agree @graciebobcat. And the holiday Nazis are getting right on my tits right now.

Of course it's safe. Most countries have been far better at containing the virus than the UK.

The only thing I'm surprised about is that anyone wants to let people from the UK in, given how many cases and deaths we've had here. I feel like we're a bigger threat to Spain than the other way round.

Of course it's safe

Over 2000 infections a day in Spain is not safe at all!
UK currently at 764 even with the lockdown eased, so a vast difference especially if we consider the R rate - and the testing capabilities in Spain lag the UK significantly. This number will the tip of the iceberg.

Spain should never have opened the nightclubs and bars, it was too soon. It was a huge mistake.

Anyone considering going to Spain now will need to seriously prepare for their stay both during and after, and contingencies for all scenarios.

@Overseasmom100

Because I thought as Spain had opened up was doing well to keep on top of the spread.

But the government said no non essential travel to Spain and two week quarantine for arrivals from Spain, as of Sunday night. Why are you shocked that a tour operator is following government advice?

Cases are also spiralling in Turkey and the Dominican Republic according to the Worldometer website. I'm not sure if they are already quarantine areas but if not they will be soon. Romania also looks pretty bad.

Looks like FCO have extended their essential travel only guidance to include the Spanish islands too. At least that is joined up with the quarantine advice now.

Spain’s infection rate per 100000 people is three times that of the U.K. over the last 2 weeks. One of the major mistakes we made early on was not quarantining travellers from high risk countries, or only from small specified regions. It sucks, it’s shit if you’re there or you’ve booked and you have to miss your holiday and you don’t deserve it, regardless of when you booked. But it’s the right thing to do at the moment.