Spanish Government says Spain is safe for tourists despite rise in Covid-19 cases

Spain’s Tourism Minister, Reyes Maroto claimed that Spain is a safe destination for tourists even though COVID-19 cases are rising. She claimed that Spain’s vaccination program is going extremely well, which has helped to control the number of cases and hospitalisations. She has urged other nations to not stop their citizens from visiting Spain.

Speaking to the RNE radio station in Madrid, she said, "Governments must not raise alarms. We cannot measure the epidemiological situation only based on cumulated incidence." Her comments were directed at Clement Beaune, French Junior European Affairs Minister, who asked the French citizens to avoid going to Spain or Portugal to spend their summer vacations. According to Our World Data, Spain reported 17,317 new Covid-19 cases. This is the highest number of cases since the peak in January when Spain was reported more than 40,000 cases. Spain’s 58.1% of the adult population has received at least one dose and 43.7% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Spain ends restrictions?

On June 24, Spain’s Health Minister Carolina Darias ended the restrictions on wearing masks in public and announced that fans will be allowed back in the stadiums for the return of the domestic season. The current surge in cases has been blamed on the ongoing UEFA EURO 2020 as fans from all over the continent have been traveling from one country to another. The UK, despite having the best inoculation rate in the world, is seeing a gigantic surge in the number of daily COVID cases. The Spanish league is a big tourist attraction and is set to begin next month. Fans from all over the world travel to watch games and the country has two of the biggest stadiums in the world in Barcelona and Madrid. 

The Delta variant of the virus, first detected in India, has wrecked havoc across Europe. The rise in cases of Spain over the past week is the highest in Europe and has seen a sharp increase in infections among the under 30 age group. Spain's most affected region, Catalonia has already placed restrictions on night-life and other regions are considering reintroducing the curfew system,