Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca could be added to the UK’s travel green list on Thursday.
According to The Times, people might also be allowed to holiday in Malta without having to quarantine on their return home.
Media minister John Whittingdale told Sky News on Wednesday that the green list will be reviewed this week and “I hope that we can put more countries on to it”.
The government is set to announce any changes to the green, amber and red lists tomorrow.
People returning to the UK from green list destinations are not required to self-isolate, but there are currently no viable major tourist destinations in that tier.
Portugal was moved from green to amber when the travel list was last reviewed.
Ahead of July 19, when the government hopes to end England’s lockdown, Downing Street suggested the government was also working on a plan to exempt people who have had two Covid jabs from quarantining when they return home from travel to countries on the amber list.
“We are looking at this, and we’ve talked about it in the road map and the global travel taskforce report,” a No.10 spokesperson said.
“No final decisions have been made but we of course want people to be able to travel abroad safely as soon as possible.”
It would mean people could travel to the United States, France and Italy without having to isolate.
But Boris Johnson has warned that “whatever happens” it will be “a difficult year for travel”.
“There will be hassle, there will be delays, I am afraid, because the priority has got to be to keep the country safe and stop the virus coming back in,” he said.
The weekly rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people on Malta is just 1.6, compared with 108.4 in the UK, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Before the pandemic, British tourists made around half a million visits to Malta annually.
The ECDC does not publish figures for the Balearic Islands – which include Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca – but the weekly case rate for the whole of Spain is 48.3.
According to The Times, people might also be allowed to holiday in Malta without having to quarantine on their return home.
Media minister John Whittingdale told Sky News on Wednesday that the green list will be reviewed this week and “I hope that we can put more countries on to it”.
The government is set to announce any changes to the green, amber and red lists tomorrow.
People returning to the UK from green list destinations are not required to self-isolate, but there are currently no viable major tourist destinations in that tier.
Portugal was moved from green to amber when the travel list was last reviewed.
Ahead of July 19, when the government hopes to end England’s lockdown, Downing Street suggested the government was also working on a plan to exempt people who have had two Covid jabs from quarantining when they return home from travel to countries on the amber list.
“We are looking at this, and we’ve talked about it in the road map and the global travel taskforce report,” a No.10 spokesperson said.
“No final decisions have been made but we of course want people to be able to travel abroad safely as soon as possible.”
It would mean people could travel to the United States, France and Italy without having to isolate.
But Boris Johnson has warned that “whatever happens” it will be “a difficult year for travel”.
“There will be hassle, there will be delays, I am afraid, because the priority has got to be to keep the country safe and stop the virus coming back in,” he said.
The weekly rate of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people on Malta is just 1.6, compared with 108.4 in the UK, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Before the pandemic, British tourists made around half a million visits to Malta annually.
The ECDC does not publish figures for the Balearic Islands – which include Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca – but the weekly case rate for the whole of Spain is 48.3.
