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Fancy beach life, turquoise sea, and umbrella drinks on the outdoor seating?
Go to Madeira.
Here it opens the doors to sun-thirsty tourists, and not just the vaccinated.
Portugal is usually one of the vacation favorites of the Swedes. But for several months, the country has been completely closed. Hotels, shopping centers and restaurants are closed, except for take away food. The country has declared a state of emergency due to the increase in infection.
At the same time, a completely different life is going 80 km to the west, in the autonomous province of Madeira.
The archipelago is currently one of the few places in Europe that welcomes tourists with gratitude, reports The Guardian. Since February 18, the province functions as a “green corridor” for tourists who have been vaccinated or have had COVID-19 during the last 90 days.
Photo: Inspire / iStockphoto
“People tired of the confinement”
As of 19 in the afternoon there is a curfew. But on days in the capital, Funchal, the streets are filled with tourists sipping a coffee in the sun in the outdoor cafes and strolling among the shops.
One of them is Sara Pedro, who is having lunch at a beach restaurant with her friends. He has escaped the harsh restrictions and empty streets of his hometown of Lisbon and made it to the island without having to take a PCR test. A certificate proving that you had already been infected before was sufficient.
It is the first time in three months that he has gone out to eat, he tells The Guardian.
– I came to Madeira because on the continent we are in a total “blockade”. You could say that people are quite tired, he says.
Some other foreign tourists say they went there because it was the only possible option.
Taste of European summer
Madeira’s move can be seen as a sign of how many expect tourism in Europe to be this summer.
– We felt that we needed to make this decision because we are looking at reality. And it is that the market vibrates when it comes to the desire to travel. Everyone has the right to travel, so our main goal is to make people’s lives easier, tourism director Eduardo Jesus tells The Guardian.
He hopes that summer will not be so different from what it is now in Madeira, “no matter what the EU decides.”
Above all, the head of tourism hopes that British tourists, who usually represent 27 percent of visitors, will be able to travel again.
– We must create conditions that allow people to travel. And it is our duty to find a way to welcome them in the best possible way, says Eduardo Jesús.
Photo: Eric Risberg / TT NEWS AGENCY
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