Travel: Spain hopes to open for tourists in June. Digital passport key to holidays

SPAIN is preparing to welcome overseas visitors this June as plans for an EU-wide digital ‘passport’ are finalised.

Tourism minister Fernando Valdés said a pilot scheme would take place next month to allow the country to be ready to receive tourists – essential to the economy – in June.

And he told a travel conference how Spain would be “ready in June to tell all travellers worldwide that you can visit us.”

However, travel will be dependant on the EU’s proposed digital green certificate, and the politician said it was not a magic wand. Key to the passport will be its QR code which contains personal information and according to the EU will be secure.

Spain is a favourite with British holidaymakers who still face a wait before they can book trips. Under England’s roadmap, overseas leisure travel could resume from May 17.

The UK government is expected to set out a traffic light system using red, amber and green indicators which govern covid-19 testing and quarantine on travellers’ return – it too is working on a digital system to prove people’s covid status.