Opinion / Carlota Rebelo
Green means go
International leisure travel from the UK might be limited until at least 17 May but many Brits are already eyeing up summer holidays and eagerly awaiting the list of potential green-light destinations. Under the government’s proposed traffic-light system, countries will have different testing and quarantine requirements depending on whether they are rated red, amber or green.
It’s fair to say that the “green” designation will be decisive in making a destination attractive or not; how many travellers do you know who will happily spend a part of their return from holiday locked inside a hotel room? The extent to which a country has managed the pandemic and its progress on vaccinations will determine whether or not it will be welcoming British travellers this year.
Which brings me to my home country of Portugal. Its journey with coronavirus has had its ups and downs. Last year it was viewed almost as a success story; one of the very few nations in Europe where life remained mostly normal despite restrictions. In September it was still welcoming travellers from most countries without requiring a negative test before allowing entry. Then came winter and everything took a turn for the worse.
Now it has bounced back again: in the past three months, Portugal has gone from having one of the highest coronavirus death tolls in the EU to this week registering a day of zero deaths for the first time since August, as well as having offered more than 20 per cent of its population a first vaccine dose – above the EU average. Early reports suggest that it will be one of the lucky few green-light destinations, along with Malta, Iceland and Gibraltar. If there have ever been any doubts that lockdowns and vaccines can work, just take a look at this sunny Iberian nation. Portugal, até breve!