Britons determined to visit Balearics despite EU travel ban as searches surge by 4,750%

Angela Merkel’s UK travel rules defended by former MEP

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Despite Spain’s decision to tighten entry rules for UK arrivals, Britons are still willing to go on holiday to the islands as Google searches for Balearic trips have risen by 4,750 percent.

Money-saving website offeroftheday.co.uk has revealed that of all the newly-added green list countries, the Balearic Islands – which include Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza – have seen the biggest increase in searches.

After the Government’s announcement, which saw other destinations like Malta, Madeira or some Caribbean Islands moved from amber to green list, Madeira holidays registered an increase of 1,550 percent.

However, searches of holidays in Menorca alone saw a rise of 1,300 percent and flights to Ibiza an increase of 900 percent.

A spokesperson for offeroftheday.co.uk, Laura Jenkins, commented on the matter.

“People have been waiting to get on holiday for nearly 18 months now, so it’s no surprise that people are jumping at the chance to get their summer holiday in this year.

“Travel is a big part of people’s lives, so it’s fantastic that the world is slowly starting to open back up for travel again and slowly but surely more countries are being added to the green list.”

This increase in holiday searches hasn’t declined after Spain’s announcement to tighten restrictions for UK arrivals.

Amid growing concerns over the Delta variant, Spain has decided to join the EU and impose stricter rules for UK tourists.

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Britons will now be required to provide evidence they have received both doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, or a negative PCR test.

This has been announced just days after the UK added the Balearic Islands to the “safe list” as the country had been asking to be moved to the green list for months.

The move comes following comments from Angela Merkel suggesting all EU countries should impose a mandatory quarantine on Britons.

Ms Merkel said: “In our country, if you come from Great Britain, you have to go into quarantine – and that’s not the case in every European country, and that is what I would like to see.”

Other EU countries, like France, Italy or the new green list addition Malta, have already imposed quarantine for all UK arrivals.

In Spain, the new measure will come into place on July 1.

Despite this, Britons are still willing to visit the Balearic Islands as searches have surged radically.

However, and after this increase in demand, prices in the islands have gone up with hotels in Mallorca and Ibiza seeing the highest rates in years.

Last week, and within hours of the green list announcement, ticket prices for some holiday hotspots rose by up to 200 percent.

Tickets from Jet2 for a return flight to Ibiza leaped from £149 to £314, for example.

Now, the INE’s Hotel Tourism Situation report has revealed that hotel rates in the islands are 40 percent more expensive than two years ago.

The average daily rate for hotels in the Balearic Islands has gone up from 79.9 euros in 2019 to 112.9 euros this month.

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