People in Spain

[MadameBee]

Whilst I think the government are a bunch of idiots and the decision yday to make anyone returning from Spain today to spend 14 days in quarantine has caused chaos.

AIBU to wonder why people have risked going to Spain anyway when there has always been the risk of a second lockdown.

There was a hairdresser on the news saying she hasn’t been able to work and now won’t be able to for another 14 days plus - it begs the question why did you risk going?

@MadameBee

A Labour government.

Speak for yourself!

The Govt are reacting to the increase in cases in Spain, people would complain if they didn't. No matter what they do they can't win with some people.

I feel very sorry for people who went to Spain and now have to take a couple of weeks off work. Yes they took a risk but that doesn't mean I can't have sympathy for them! Also possible they booked before Covid and couldn't get a refund because there was no travel restriction and didn't want to lose their money.

There will always be airlines and travel companies. I don’t have much sympathy for the likes of Michael Ryan and other greedy fuckers who have tried to fleece customers for years. They should have enough insurance to cover this and, it they don’t, hell slap it up them. Of course I feel sorry for employees, but the corporate greed of the owners needs to be exposed and hopefully more client friendly companies will emerge from this crisis to offer us a better service.

@MarcelineMissouri

The government can’t win here. They’ve been criticised for being too slow and now they do something quickly they’re being criticised again. If you look at the Spanish figures in worldometer they pretty much doubled overnight from 1357 to 2615 on 22/23rd July. So they’ve responded promptly to an escalating situation. Surely that’s what we want then to be doing??

The government have done the right thing for once and been proactive.

They went at their own risk. This pandemic is still ongoing. The government acted fast to stop these ppl bringing it back here and starting wave 2 here. It’s so easy to call the government idiots because you don’t like their decisions but would you be calling them idiots if they hadn’t made ppl quarantine? And we had a second wave?

There are lots of ways to live with this virus. One would be to pretty much eradicate it, strictly quarantine people entering the country and wit it out. I cant help thinking this would be best for the economy. Not for the travel industry certainly, but for everyone else.

That said, those who are unexpectedly having to quarantine or are now seeing holidays cancelled have my utmost sympathy. The whole situation sucks.

I’m in Spain at the moment. It was booked a year ago and not cancelled so we decided to go. Both DH and I have been working throughout lockdown in frontline roles and DC have been in school so all wanted a break and were willing to take the risk. The quarantine is annoying but we’ll work it out. On balance I’m glad I got my holiday but I think everyone needs to make the decision that’s right for them. Completely understand why others might not have chosen to go.

So you can still go, providing your airline hasn’t cancelled-I understand Tui has cancelled all flights to Spain? But you’ll need to quarantine for 2 weeks on your return? So many people just won”t do that.

Well, why was Spain even on the air bridge list? even a quick google shows spain was seeing a doubling of Cv cases in mid June.

As for stopping bringing back infection here? get real, we have an estimated 20k new infections per week (ONS), thats more than Spain.

How long is the quarantine rule likely to be in force for?

When the people left the UK there was no quarantine requirement. They probably should have checked Spanish numbers of new infections, but even if they had, they might have assumed there would be local lockdowns not a country wide approach.

Poster up thread has it right I think ( but sorry can't quote). There's no guarantees that holidays will be on the agenda in 2021, so there does come a sod it point. Particularly for those of us who think we've had it.

I have two European trips abroad booked in September, booked in 2019 just so you know. If i can get to Hungary I definitely will - at the minute there are strict restrictions at their side, and second one is Poland where numbers are higher so will wait and see nearer the time.

The government advice re the air bridges was always there was a risk they could be cancelled at short notice if conditions in a country changed. It wasn’t exactly a secret.

@jasjas1973
The only people to blame for this fiasco are the Govt, Spain France & many other countries deemed safe to travel to, also had high CV infection rates a month ago.

No, they didn't have high CV infection rates a month ago. On 23 June there were 334 new cases in Spain - and on 23 July (Thursday) there were 2,615 new cases. An 8 fold increase. Cases in France have doubled between the same dates, from 517 to 1062.

I am no tory but I think they have done the right thing.

Frankly I agree that anyone who went, regardless of when it was booked, while the pandemic is still on going cannot claim outrage when the situation suddenly changes on them. If they didnt see it coming and factor it in then I have no sympathy.

There was a thread last week posted by a woman who lives in Spain saying how many UK holiday makers were ignoring the regulations on facemasks etc saying "fuck off, we're on our holidays". Does anyone really think that someone that stupid and selfish will quarantine properly on their return? Because I dont believe it for a second.

@Shizzlestix

So you can still go, providing your airline hasn’t cancelled-I understand Tui has cancelled all flights to Spain? But you’ll need to quarantine for 2 weeks on your return? So many people just won”t do that.

If thousands are still able to fly into Spain every day, are they really going to bother with an unforced quarantine when they come back?

I can’t help but feel many of those who exclaim “ told them so!”, “ they shouldn’t have been so stupid!” just ooze jealousy and bitterness. Like vultures waiting in the trees for a corpse to feed on. Often the same names coming up to crow over peoples’ ruined trips. The government were trying to encourage people to travel to stimulate the economy. You can’t possibly blame it on the individuals at every turn. I feel really sorry for them. I’m not sure how the quarantine will be enforced it’s almost impossible. I know passengers returning to U.K. will need to complete their residency and contact information at border control. Clearly if the police wished to they could do random checks on individuals at their addresses. They are hardly going to be able to have surveillance on each traveler 24/7. I know someone personally who is returning and they have no plans to quarantine. Will they get caught? I doubt it. I don’t agree with their stance but I don’t see what can be done.

Spain's CV infections have been doubling every few days since early June, albeit from low numbers.

The numbers now are similar to the UK's

I think for once the government have acted appropriately in a timely manner. (I never thought I would find myself actually thinking this government did something right!).

They should have implemented this all the way back in March as well with Italy/ski holidays.

I do feel for those who booked pre-covid and in the situation of not being able to get refunds. Those that booked recently then Inam sorry but they should have been smart enough to realise things are changing so quickly and that it always would have been a risk that they would have to quarantine - you want to do normal things? You want the old normal? Then you will have to suck up things like quarantine otherwise the new normal will be here for a long time to come.

@JinglingHellsBells

So when the government didn't activate lockdown soon enough, they got it wrong.

Now, when they are being decisive and on the ball, they are wrong too.

What do people want?

Those two things are the same mistake from different angles. They were slow to lock down and quick to unlock. It would have been safer to be quick to lock down and then to be more cautious on the unlocking.

Loads of people all over social media who are currently in Spain are saying they won't be quarantining on their return.

Can't be policed and they don't seem to GAF.

Selfish idiots.

@jasjas1973 according to google search and worldometer, Spanish new cases are 3 times higher than UK so 2450 versus 750 for most recent daily count.

Yanbu. However I think people going on flights and holidays abroad are pretty selfish, there's a pandemic.

I can’t help but feel many of those who exclaim “ told them so!”, “ they shouldn’t have been so stupid!” just ooze jealousy and bitterness.

I'm not jealous or bitter in the slightest - although I wouldn't go as far as calling people stupid for doing so, I do think that people seem to lack common sense more and more these days. (Aware that makes me sound about 95 lol)
I mean, we've literally just started to come out of lockdown, we've only just been able to start mixing with family again indoors, been able to go for days out.
Suddenly people are jetting off to foreign countries?!
It's a risk you take.
OK fair enough if you booked last year and were told you could now go, but to book one now as a last minute thing like I've read people doing is madness imo, too soon.
As a PP said, I don't think the government can win here.
If they'd have dithered and there was a second wave and another lockdown, people would have moaned.
They take prompt action, people are STILL moaning!
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My friend is currently in Spain and is coming back next week..,... To quarantine in her caravan on an extremely busy caravan park

Why is Portugal not on Air Bridge list?