Spain’s tourism industry is welcoming the UK’s decision to lift the quarantine requirements for double vaccinated travellers returning to Britain from amber list destinations.

UK transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed on Thursday that from 19 July, people arriving back in the UK will not have to quarantine for 10 days from countries on the amber list. Under-18s will also be exempt from having to self-isolate.

The announcement is greatly welcomed in Spain, with the tourism industry concerned of more cancellations as the delta strain of coronavirus continues to rage.

Indeed, on Thursday, France’s secretary of state for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, advised French nationals to avoid traveling to Spain and Portugal, reports El Pais.

Britain is the principal source of foreign visitors to Spain, totalling 18 million in 2019.

For Spain’s tourism sector, this meant €483 million a week in July and €495 million a week in August in terms of revenue from UK travellers in these months in 2019.

This is according to figures by industry group Exceltur utilising data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) and the Bank of Spain.

Spain’s government forecasts around 17 million international arrivals this summer. This is solely 45% of arrivals from those registered in 2019, but treble the number from summer last year.

An all-time high 83.5 million tourists visited Spain in 2019. In comparison, there were 3.2 million registered between January and May 2021, a decline of 26 million during the same time in 2019.

Hopes of a comparatively successful summer season were bolstered by a steady drop in transmission of the virus, plus an acceleration in the vaccine rollout.

Nevertheless, fears of fresh restrictions – and therefore new international travel curbs - are rife as the current spread of coronavirus hits the younger, as yet unvaccinated population.