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Dozens of British tourists in the Algarve today anticipate their return to the United Kingdom, to avoid serving their quarantine upon their return home, after the British Government announced the closure of the air corridor with mainland Portugal.
Several British citizens contacted by Lusa at Faro airport were unhappy with the British Government’s decision, but due to work commitments they were forced to anticipate, some of them, their return to England in several days.
“I do not agree with the decision of my country to place Portugal [excepção dos Açores e da Madeira] in risky air corridors, not evaluating regions, as is the case of the Algarve, a region where I feel safe, ”British Carly Spencer told Lusa.
The surgeon, who lives in the north of England, said the measure “forced her to anticipate the flight back home, which cost about 500 euros, six days to avoid quarantine upon arrival in the UK.”
“The holidays end next week and I cannot, for professional reasons, undergo a two-week quarantine,” he said.
Carly Spencer added that the situation in Portugal “may raise concerns in big cities like Lisbon and Porto, but the Algarve should be an exception for the British government.”
“We arrived in the Algarve last Monday, we were in the Silves area, where I felt safe in terms of possible contamination, due to the security conditions offered by the hotel,” he stressed.
For Carly Spencer, it seems that in the Algarve “there is great concern about security measures, without bars open until dawn and with establishments forcing and sensitizing customers about the problem of covid-19”.
“I work with covid patients in England and I appreciate the measures that I found in the Algarve, a region I hope to return to soon,” he said.
Like Carly Spencer, Thomas Hurley also anticipated his return to the UK to avoid having to comply with the quarantine imposed by British authorities on anyone returning from mainland Portugal.
“I had a flight for Saturday afternoon, but I had to anticipate my return home, losing a day of vacation in this wonderful region that is being unfairly discriminated against by my Government,” the professor in the departures area of the Faro airport.
“I do not understand and I find it difficult to accept that the United Kingdom does not look differently at other regions that do not have many cases of covid-19, such as the Algarve, where people are aware of the danger of the disease, which I do not see in my country “, said.
In the opinion of Thomas Hurley, the British Government “should first look inward, imposing stronger measures to avoid such a high number of infections, such as further limiting the movement of its citizens.”
“I know they are not popular measures, but in the face of this pandemic, which does not know how it ends, the measures would have to be taken behind closed doors,” he stressed.
Elisabeth Crown is another British citizen who told Lusa that she was “forced to anticipate her return” to Manchester, the city where she lives and teaches the discipline of History.
“Unfortunately, I have to return two days earlier than I had planned, because I have to go back to work and a 14-day quarantine would not be possible,” said the British citizen.
Elisabeth Crown added that the situation caused her additional costs “only with the rescheduling of the flight, around 500 euros, a value very close to that spent for a six-day stay” at the home of some friends in the Algarve.
“I do not agree with the position of the Government [britânico] in relation to the Algarve, a place where I feel safe, with people aware and informed about this tragic situation facing the world ”, he concluded.
In turn, some taxi drivers contacted by Lusa said there was “a very large increase in British passengers leaving Portugal, a movement that started around five in the morning.”
The president of the Association of Hotels and Tourism Companies of the Algarve (AHETA), Elidérico Viegas, told Lusa that “there are records of many tourists who anticipate the departure of hotel units and also a significant number of reservation cancellations.”
Lusa counted around 30 flights scheduled for today leaving Faro and bound for England, which, for Elidérico Viegas, “is a number outside of what is a normal day.”
The Lusa agency questioned ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal about the increase in planned flights after the British government’s decision was known, but did not obtain a timely response.
