由于西班牙近期新冠疫情出现反弹趋势,英国政府7月25日突然决定,当天午夜开始,将西班牙移出入境免隔离国家和地区名单。对此,西班牙随后发布消息称,西班牙新冠疫情目前处于可控状态,仍然是个安全的国家。
British tourists returning to UK, check in their luggage, as Britain imposed a two-week quarantine on all travellers arriving from Spain, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Gran Canaria Airport, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain July 25, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
Britain abruptly imposed a two-week quarantine on all travellers arriving from Spain after a surge of coronavirus cases, a dramatic and sudden reversal on Saturday to the opening of the European continent to tourism after months of lockdown.
在西班牙新冠肺炎病例激增后,上周六(7月25日),英国突然宣布对所有从西班牙入境的旅客实施为期两周的隔离。经过数月的封锁,英国对欧洲大陆开放旅游业的政策出现了戏剧性的突然逆转。
The quarantine requirement takes effect from midnight (2300 GMT on Saturday), making it almost impossible for travellers to avoid it by rushing home.
隔离要求从午夜开始生效(格林威治标准时间7月25日晚11时),使得旅客几乎不可能匆忙赶回家来避开这一要求。
The British foreign ministry also advised against all but essential travel to mainland Spain, a move likely to prompt tour operators to cancel package holidays and trigger claims against insurers.
英国外交部还建议,除非必要,不要前往西班牙大陆旅行,此举可能会促使旅游运营商取消旅游套餐,并引发针对保险公司的索赔。
Europe’s biggest travel company TUI said it was cancelling all departures on Sunday to Spain from the United Kingdom, and was urgently reviewing future flights.
欧洲最大的旅游公司途易表示,将取消周日(7月26日)所有从英国飞往西班牙的航班,并紧急评估未来的航班。
“We’re incredibly disappointed that we didn’t get more notice of this announcement, or that this decision wasn’t made yesterday, as many Brits travel on holiday at the weekend,” said TUI’s UK managing director, Andrew Flintham.
途易英国总经理安德鲁·弗林特汉姆说:“我们对该公告没有得到更多通知,而且该决定也没有在昨天做出,我们感到非常失望,因为很多英国人周末都在度假。”
EasyJet and British Airways said they did not plan to cancel flights over the coming days.
易捷航空和英国航空表示,并未计划取消未来几天的航班。
Spain’s Canary and Balearic Islands are not covered by the advice to avoid travel to the mainland, but holidaymakers returning to Britain from the islands will still be subject to quarantine on return.
西班牙的加那利群岛和巴利阿里群岛不在非必要不出行的建议范围内,但从这些岛屿返回英国的度假者在返回时仍需接受隔离。
Britain’s government urged employers to be “understanding” towards staff who are unable to return to work for two weeks after coming back from holiday.
英国政府敦促雇主要“体谅”那些休假归来两周后才能返工的员工。
Transport minister Grant Shapps himself will be subject to quarantine, after a spokesman confirmed that he is currently on holiday in Spain.
交通部长格兰特·沙普斯本人也将接受隔离,此前一位发言人证实他目前正在西班牙度假。
The British move followed steps last week by other European countries. On Friday Norway said it would re-impose a 10-day quarantine requirement for people arriving from Spain, while France advised people not to travel to Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia.
上周,其他欧洲国家也采取了类似行动。上周五(7月24日),挪威表示,将对来自西班牙的旅客重新实施10天隔离,而法国则建议人们不要前往西班牙东北部的加泰罗尼亚地区。
But the total collapse of tourism from Britain would have far more impact. Britons made up more than 20% of foreign visitors to Spain last year, the largest group by nationality. Tourism normally accounts for 12% of Spain’s economy.
但来自英国游客的急剧减少将产生更大的影响。去年到西班牙旅游的外国游客中,英国人占了20%以上,是到访人数最多的外籍游客群体。旅游业通常占西班牙经济的12%。
Spain had been on a list of countries that the British government had said were safe for travellers to visit - meaning tourists returning home would not have to go into quarantine.
西班牙曾被英国政府列入游客可以安全前往的国家名单,这意味着游客回国后不必进行隔离。
The announcement of such lists just weeks ago had allowed Europe’s tourism sector to begin to revive after the near total shut-down prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
在新冠肺炎疫情导致欧洲旅游业几近全面关闭后,几周前这类名单的公布才让欧洲旅游业开始复苏。
Pedestrians wear face masks in Barcelona, Spain. XINHUA
西班牙回应英国隔离政策:疫情可控、仍然安全
Spain is safe for tourists and Spaniards, the government insisted on Sunday after Britain abruptly imposed a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travelers returning from there, a decision that filled holidaymakers with dismay.
西班牙政府周日(7月26日)坚称,西班牙对游客和本国民众来说是安全的。此前,英国突然宣布对从西班牙回国的旅客实施为期两周隔离,这一决定让度假者感到沮丧。
The UK move could deal a hard blow to efforts to restart the Mediterranean country’s economy after months of lockdown.
在数月的封锁后,英国政府此举可能会对这个地中海国家重启经济的努力造成沉重打击。
“Spain is safe, it is safe for Spaniards, it is safe for tourists,” Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters.
西班牙外交部长阿拉查·冈萨雷斯·拉亚告诉记者说:“对西班牙人和游客来说,西班牙都是一个安全的国家。”
The Spanish government will focus its efforts on trying to persuade Britain to exclude the Balearic and Canary islands from the quarantine measure, she said, adding that the prevalence of the virus in those popular travel destinations was much lower than in the United Kingdom.
她说,西班牙政府将努力说服英国将巴利阿里群岛和加那利群岛排除在隔离措施之外,并补充说,这些热门旅游目的地的病毒感染率远低于英国。
Spain has seen COVID-19 cases rise in the last few weeks, and Britain announced late on Saturday it was taking the country off a safe-travel list. The quarantine took effect hours later.
过去几周,西班牙的新冠肺炎病例有所增加,英国周六(7月25日)晚些时候宣布将西班牙从安全旅行名单中删除。隔离措施在几小时后生效。
The measure upset the plans of many people either on holiday or planning to take one and caused more disruption for airlines and tour companies.
这一举措打乱了许多旅行者和计划休假的人的安排,给航空公司和旅游公司造成了更大的干扰。
While Gonzalez Laya avoided directly criticizing the UK move, British tourists traveling in Spain were more blunt.
虽然冈萨雷斯·拉亚没有直接批评英国的举措,但在西班牙旅游的英国游客却更加直言不讳。
“It’s a bit crazy considering the restrictions in place in Spain already are really good, with the masks, with disinfecting everything, with hand wash in the shops. That’s better than what we have in London,” Rich Lambert, a communications officer, said at Barcelona’s airport.
“这有点疯狂,因为西班牙的限制措施已经很好了,人们戴口罩,勤消毒,商店里还有洗手液。这比我们在伦敦的情况好”,通信官员里奇·兰伯特在巴塞罗那机场说。
“This is ridiculous. There are almost no cases here and there’s a far higher chance of contracting it when I get back to Britain,” said John Snelling, 50, from Stratford-upon-Avon, who was on holiday in Menorca.
来自埃文河畔斯特拉特福德、正在梅诺卡岛度假的50岁的约翰·斯奈林说:“这太荒谬了。 这里几乎没有病例,但我回到英国后感染的几率要高得多。”
【西班牙新冠疫情最新数据】
据美国约翰斯·霍普金斯大学最新数据显示,截至北京时间7月27日8时34分许,西班牙新冠确诊病例累计超27万例,累计死亡超2.8万例。
英文来源:路透社