BRITISH holidaymakers will need to have a negative coronavirus test to visit the Canary Islands from today.
With the UK lockdown ending on December 2, any families with plans for a last-minute winter-sun trip to the islands will need to have the test or face being turned away from their hotel.
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The new rules, which affect Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, will include all British arrivals, excluding kids under the age of six.
The rest of Spain will follow suit in needing a negative test later this month, and enforced from November 23.
The negative coronavirus tests cannot be done on the NHS, which is only for anyone with symptoms.
Tests for travel reasons must be conducted privately, which can cost between £100 and £200 per person – putting family holidays at risk of costing hundreds more.
Many of them guarantee results within 24 hours, although some families have claimed theirs did not arrive in time due to an influx in requests.
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The test must be taken up to 72 hours before travelling.
Anyone arriving without a negative PCR test will have to have a test on arrival, and quarantine while waiting for the results.
The Canary Islands government said: “The Government of the Canary Islands has taken this measure to regulate tourist accommodation so that the health of both travellers and locals can be protected. As well as this, the measures are designed to restrict the spread of Covid-19, which can cause a paralysis of tourist and economic activity.
“This new decree-law makes the Canary Islands the first Spanish autonomous community to require tourists to perform a diagnostic test in their place of origin or in spaces made available to them prior to entering tourist accommodation.
“Tourist accommodation providers must deny access to any tourist who arrives at their establishment without a negative test for Covid-19.”
The islands were left “devastated” following the UK lockdown, as many hotels and resorts hoped for last-minute holidays from British tourists.
The rest of Spain remains on the quarantine list, which means holidays to the mainland or the Balearic Islands is off the cards.
However, the UK government is looking at launching their test-and-release scheme by next month which could reduce the current 14-day quarantine period.
Instead of two weeks, it could be reduced to just five or seven days, with a test on the first day and final day.
