After having initially announced it would open to non-essential travel for British tourists, from today Portugal is welcoming non-essential travellers from most European Union countries. The Interior Ministry announced the new rules on Saturday and the country follows Greece and Italy in welcoming tourist travel for most European countries.
1. Regulations
According to the Portuguese government statement, the country now allows travel, “including for non-essential travel” from EU countries with less than 500 coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Travellers from Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland for non-essential reasons can also fly to Portugal again. All travellers must present a negative PCR test done less than 72 hours before their flight, and any airlines which allow passengers to board without this risk a fine of €500 to €2,000 per passenger.
2. Tourism in Portugal
João Fernandes, president of Algarve Tourism, Portugal’s southernmost and coastal region, said, “We look forward to welcoming British visitors again. With 48.5% of our international visitors arriving at Faro airport from the UK in a typical year, the absence of British visitors was noticed and missed last summer.” “We also want to reassure visitors that tourism businesses are operating with health and safety protocols in place. Most have signed up to our ‘Clean & Safe’ Campaign, which means they follow our guidelines for keeping staff and customers safe.”
