Malta and Ibiza added to NI travel green list ahead of UK announcement

The Balearic Islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca are being tipped to join the UK's holiday green list along with Malta, Bermuda, Grenada and Madeira after Northern Ireland announced an update to its foreign travel restrictions.

Speculation is mounting that the top holiday destinations may now be added to the green list across the UK, with experts suggesting that the Northern Ireland Assembly may have 'jumped the gun' ahead of tonight's widely-anticipated Department for Transport announcement.

It comes as France and Germany launched a joint push to make Britons quarantine on arrival in the EU today despite Boris Johnson hailing the 'real opportunity' of opening travel to double-jabbed holidaymakers.

The bid to tighten the bloc's defences against the Indian - or Delta - variant emerged as the UK prepares to add the Balearics and Malta to the 'green list' of destinations where people do not have to self-isolate on return.  

Game-changing plans to drop 'amber list' restrictions for those who are fully vaccinated are also being considered by ministers this afternoon, and could potentially come into effect as early as next month.

However, even if the rules are loosened it will be of limited use as Britons still face tough curbs imposed by other countries - who are alarmed at the spike in infections caused by the Indian, or Delta, variant.   

Angela Merkel urged all EU states to follow Germany's lead by requiring travellers from the UK to quarantine.

'I will lobby for a more co-ordinated approach, particularly with regard to entries from regions where virus variants abound,' she said at a summit in Brussels today.

French president Emmanuel Macron echoed her hard line, saying: 'We must all be vigilant because the much-talked-about Delta variant is coming, which spreads much more rapidly than the other variants and affects people who are not vaccinated or who only have had one dose.

'For me, one of the issues of discussion is to be really taking co-ordinated decisions in terms of opening of borders to third countries and on recognising vaccines because at this stage we have to limit this to the vaccines that have been approved by the European medical authority.'

Environment Secretary George Eustice condemned the Franco-German stance. 'I'm not sure that such an approach would be justified given the highly advanced stage we are currently at now in terms of vaccination, with 80 per cent having had one jab and now 60 per cent having had the second jab,' he told LBC radio.

'I don't think such a move would be justified but obviously it's for individual countries to make these judgments.'

Spain indicated it will fight any Franco-German attempt to get the rest of Europe to introduce quarantine for British holidaymakers. 

Meanwhile, on a visit to Aldershot, Mr Johnson dodged directly criticising Mrs Merkel's comments.   

He said: 'Let's see where we get to with all this. I think that the real opportunity we all have now is to open up travel through the double jab.

'We've got more than 60 per cent of our population have now had two jabs, 83 per cent have had one jab, we're really getting through it now.

'I'm not going to claim that this summer, for travel purposes, is going to be like any other summer. I don't want to cast a pall over things but, as I said the other day, it will be different. 

On another tense day of coronavirus developments: 

Portuguese PM Antonio Costa admitted earlier today his country would bow down to whatever EU leaders decided ahead of a European Council meeting.

Asked by a Portuguese journalist if Lisbon would consider making Brits quarantine, he replied: 'If that was the wish of the Council, yes. 

'The United Kingdom shouldn't have any different treatment.' 

But Spain's Tourism Minister Maria Reyes Maroto appeared to put her country on a collision course with the likes of Merkel and Macron by insisting before the UK's new traffic light announcement: 'Hopefully we can begin to receive British tourists soon.'

Speaking today at an event organised by leading Spanish newspaper El Pais, she said: 'We don't have any restrictions on tourists from the UK at the moment.

'They're the ones who are placing restrictions on people when they return.' 

More than five million Brits visit Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca in a normal year. Scientists have signed off on declaring the Balearics safe enough for the green list, which would be a welcome relief for the travel industry.

However, there are lingering fears that the Government could overrule the advice, as it did when Malta was put forward for approval last month.