EU CHIEF Ursula Von der Leyen has warned people against making any summer holiday plans, as we don’t know yet how long the coronavirus pandemic will affect European countries.
Most planes are currently grounded and many countries have put wide-ranging travel restrictions and warnings in place.
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While some nations are considering first steps out of weeks-long shutdowns of public life, much of Europe is near a standstill.
As a result, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper that she “would advise waiting with such plans.
She said: “I’d advise everyone to wait before making holiday plans.
“At the moment, no one can make reliable forecasts for July and August.
“We will need to learn to live with this virus for many months, probably until next year.”
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The warning comes days after French president Emmanuel Macron was reported to suggest that the EU stayed closed until September.
British holidaymakers hoping to travel to Spain this summer have been warned they could be waiting until September at the earliest.
Tourism leaders across Spain are pleading with the government to start urgent special measures now – as holiday hotspots warn they won’t recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis until at least 2021, or ever in many cases.
There is huge concern in both the Canary Islands and the Balearics, which include Ibiza and Majorca, that this year will be wiped out completely.
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Some European countries have announced plans to ease restrictions on social life, transport and cross-border travel put in place since mid-March though.
Austria plans to let non-essential shops of up to 400 square metres, as well as all DIY shops and garden centres reopen tomorrow, with malls, hairdressers and larger stores reopening from May 1, though the plan could change if infections accelerate.
Restaurants and hotels could reopen step by step from mid-May, although details have yet to be announced.
Ireland will potentially ease stay-at-home restrictions and allow some shops to reopen in the coming weeks as part of a step-by-step scaling back of the country’s coronavirus lockdown, a senior health official said on Friday.
In Gremany, the cabinet will weigh easing distancing rules tomorrow after the National Academy of Sciences presents its recommendations, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
A “positive trend” in infections, if continued, would allow it to discuss a gradual return to normality after the Easter break, Health Minister Jens Spahn told Handelsblatt newspaper.
Last week, Brits were being urged not to travel abroad “indefinitely” by the Foreign Office.
The restrictions were initially in place until April 15, but this weekend the FCO posted on social media: “The Foreign Office indefinitely advises against all non-essential global travel.”
