Covid positivity rates among travellers returning from Spain have almost tripled since the end of June, according to official data that ministers could use to slap the holiday hotspot with tougher quarantine rules.
More than 70,000 people flew into England from Spain over the first three weeks of July and 2,065 of them tested positive — a rate of 2.9 per cent. For comparison, the figure stood at just 0.9 per cent throughout June.
The latest NHS Test and Trace statistics will be fed into No10, which Whitehall insiders say is already considering imposing stricter rules on Spain.
The Government is set to update its travel quarantine list next week and there are hopes dozens more destinations will be placed on the green and amber lists.
But if the Government decides to push the panic button in the face of soaring rates among Spanish travellers, it could see the nation placed in the amber-plus bracket, meaning all arrivals would have to isolate for 10 days upon return — even if they've been fully vaccinated.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today warned there are no 'cast-iron guarantees' that Spain will stay quarantine-free for vaccinated Brits.
As it stands, France is the only country on the amber-plus list but questions have been asked about what ministers used to reach that 'incomprehensible' decision.
The Government warned of the persistent presence of the 'Beta' variant to justify the move. And Mr Raab today admitted France was put in the tougher category because of high rates on Reunion island, situated in the Indian Ocean — 6,000 miles (9,600km) from Paris.
The mutant strain is even more dominant in Spain, where infections are also higher. Health officials are said to be 'getting very jumpy' about Spain's situation with the strain, which emerged in South Africa and is thought to be more resistant to the AstraZeneca vaccine given to millions in the UK.
The proportion of infected travellers flying back from Spain stands at 2.9 per cent, up from 0.6 per cent three weeks earlier. But positivity rates among travellers are higher from 11 other countries, with 11.1 per cent of those coming to England from Jersey having the virus. But the highest number of infected people came from Spain (2,065) - four times higher than the second-highest country Greece
The positivity rate among people coming to England from Spain has skyrocketed in the last three weeks to 2.9 per cent. Infection rates among the group had been between 0.6 and 1 per cent since February