Burnley holidaymaker slams government's Spanish quarantine strategy and calls for scientific reasons behind it to be made public

A holidaymaker from Burnley, who flew out to Tenerife before the swingeing  quarantine restrictions were imposed at the weekend, has slammed the move by the British government as 'knee jerk and inconsistent.'
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Paul Smith has been on holiday in Tenerife with his wife Janis and their daughters, Lauren (16) and 12-year-old Maya since Sunday, July 19th and they are due home on Friday.

Paul, who has worked in the travel industry for 20 years including stints for Airtours, Gold Medal Travel and Specialist Lesiure Group, said: "The situation here is well under control with Covid rates less than half of that of the UK average so I cannot understand the decisions taken by the government as these are not backed by the science - a mantra which they stated their strategy would be based on."

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The dad of two said he believed the strategy, where holidaymakers returning from all parts of Spain must quarantine for two weeks, was causing both consumers and the travel industry a 'great deal of heartache and inconvenience' and claims the Prime Minister should have put regional restrictions in place similar to the ones imposed by the Belgian government.

Paul Smit, pictured with his daughters Lauren and Maya, has slammed the government's decision to introduce a two week quaratine period for holidaymakers returning from all parts of Spain.Paul Smit, pictured with his daughters Lauren and Maya, has slammed the government's decision to introduce a two week quaratine period for holidaymakers returning from all parts of Spain.
Paul Smit, pictured with his daughters Lauren and Maya, has slammed the government's decision to introduce a two week quaratine period for holidaymakers returning from all parts of Spain.

Paul is also demanding answers as to why the evidence behind the recent government decision has not been made public adding: " Even the key trade bodies for the travel industry, such as ABTA, has stated that no such information has been shared with them so what has changed on Saturday so that the Canary Islands is no longer deemed as a safe place to travel to?

" If the decision was taken based on getting round asking UK residents not to quarantine, why wasn’t a regional air bridge considered given the Canary Islands have a Covid rate that is more than 50% lower than the UK.?"

Paul contacted Burnley's MP Mr Antony Higginbotham to put his points and questions forward.

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He said: "I asked him if anyone in government has any semblance of the chaos they are creating the travel industry by making knee jerk reactions with some of them (e.g. Canary Islands) not backed by any form of scientific evidence?

" The resorts here remain very quiet with social distancing measures far superior to the U.K.

"The majority of bars and nightclubs remain closed due to low visitor levels. For those that are open appropriate social distance and measures are being taken. "

Paul is also asking why the government put such stringent measures in place for Spain but did not take equal action for the outbreak in Blackburn with Darwen. The total rate of infection, since data began to be collected, stood at 900 cases per 100,000 people, which is more than double the average for England, which is 463 cases per 100,000 people.

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He said: "The outbreak in Blackburn was considerably worse than the vast majority of Spain.

"In fact I would have put myself in far more danger visiting Blackburn or Darwen in this period as opposed to an island that has a rate less than half the rate of the UK.

"Also, why delay introducing face masks when a decision could have been made with much shorter notice as the government seem to be putting on consumers wishing to travel?"

Paul is also demanding to know why there is still no minister for outgoing tourism, despite MPs being lobbied for this role to be introduced for years.

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He added: "Overall, this now looks a government in chaos with departmental in-fighting and no coherent strategy.

"Whatever happened to the mantra ‘we will be led by the science’?

"Instead we have over simplistic blanket messages and an incoherent and inconsistent strategy that is causing chaos for both the travel industry and consumers."