COVID-19 And All Its Rules Could Slam Spain’s Economy This Summer - Forbes

Just when we all thought the end of the pandemic was in sight comes a piece of shockingly bad news for Spain, Britain, and the rest of Europe.

Let’s start with Spain, which will still be struggling from the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak this summer.

“The Delta Covid variant has quashed hopes of a ‘normal’ summer tourism season for Spain,” states a recent report from London-based financial research company Capital Economics.

Spain relies heavily on tourists visiting from other countries during the hotter summer months. But this year, that may not happen.

The Capital report continues:

• “The EU’s “digital certificate”, which will be available in all member states next week, should give non-essential travel within the bloc a boost; other EU citizens can already visit Spain but numbers have so far been low.”

The largest group of tourists to Spain each year has traditionally been from the United Kingdom, leaving the EU at the beginning of last year. Hence, Brits don’t qualify for the digital certificate.

“While Spain is not imposing testing on tourists arriving from the UK, the UK government’s requirement for quarantine on return is deterring British travellers [sic]. [my emphasis]”

While the quarantine may get waived later this summer, the Capital Economics report says that could come too late for Spain.

In other words, a British rule may be giving Spain’s economy a kick in the head at a time when it needs help.

That said, it’s not all Britain that is causing problems. European leaders, such as Merkel and Macron, are likely making things worse for mainland Europe’s beleaguered economy, states a recent report from the Telegraph. They are trying to restrict British tourists from visiting mainland Europe due to concerns that British citizens will infect the EU with the new COVID variant.

In other words, the largest group of sun-seeking tourists that Europe has relied on for generations to keep their economies going likely won’t be showing up this summer.

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COVID-19 And All Its Rules Could Slam Spain’s Economy This Summer - Forbes
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