Spain extends UK arrivals ban till mid February

MADRID: Spain on Tuesday extended a ban on arrivals from Britain by sea or air until mid-February given persistent "uncertainties" over the new virus strain discovered there last year.

Only those with Spanish nationality or resident in Spain will be allowed in, a government statement said, indicating the same rules would be in place for the microstate of Andorra.

Like many other European countries, Spain decided at the end of December to ban all UK arrivals in response to fears over the discovery in Britain of a more contagious strain of the virus.

The two-week ban has already been extended once.

"At this point in time, there remain some uncertainties over the reach of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2," the statement said.

The government said the epidemiological situation in Britain was getting worse while at the same time, the number of cases in Spain linked to the new variant was rising.

So far, around 200 cases of the new variant have been detected in Spain, although health chiefs fear the variant could spread and become the majority strain in the country by March.