BERLIN, Germany (AP) — Mallorca's first tourists in 93 days touched down yesterday, saying they feel safe in the popular Spanish island and ready to make the most of the beach and sunny weather without the hordes of visitors found there in normal times.
As borders opened up across Europe three months after closures that began chaotically in March, Spain prioritised the entry of a first batch of thousands of Germans who were allowed to fly to its Balearic Islands.
Spaniards themselves are still not allowed to travel to the archipelago and it will take one more week for the rest of country, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic in Europe, to catch up with other countries in the region, where border checks dropped overnight yesterday.
Announcing yesterday's reopening of borders and Paris restaurants, French President Emmanuel Macron said it's time “to turn the page of the first act of the crisis” and “rediscover our taste for freedom”.
As a result, France is asking people from Britain to self-quarantine for two weeks, and several other nations are not letting British tourists in during the first wave of reopenings.