Spanish Inquisition

Sturgeon lifts quarantine rule for 57 countries but travel industry experts question why Spain is not on approved list

- Paul Hutcheon

Holidaymakers will still have to quarantine for 14 days when they come back from Spain.

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the curb will be lifted for 57 “air bridge” countries on Friday – but Spain did not make the cut.

However, she said: “My hope is these restrictions can be relaxed soon.”

The UK Government recently published a list of 59 countries which would no longer be subject to quarantine rules.

A cautious Sturgeon initially refused to rubber stamp the decision after claiming more time was needed to examine each country.

At her daily briefing on the virus yesterday, Sturgeon approved almost all of the travel destinations announced by UK ministers.

It means people travelling to and from these countries won’t have to self-isolate on return.

Sturgeon said excluding Spain and Serbia had been a “difficult decision” driven by the evidence.

Although Spain is not on the approved list, the First Minister said it will be kept under review to see if cases of the virus there decrease enough.