- Home » Expat News » Brits in Portugal furious over UK refusal to initiate air bridge
Brits in Portugal furious over UK refusal to initiate air bridge
| Published: | 17 Jul at 6 PM |
Want to get involved?
Become a Featured Expat and take our interview.
Become a Local Expert and contribute articles.
Get in touch today!
Become a Local Expert and contribute articles.
Get in touch today!
British expats living in Portugal are furious about the UK’s refusal to set up a quarantine-free air bridge for tourists.
In yet another chaotic decision, the UK has ruined Portugal’s chances of tourism revenue this year by refusing to establish a quarantine-free ‘air bridge’. Worse still, other world countries have concluded Portugal is an unsafe destination simply by accepting the UK’s flawed reasoning. Professionals in the healthcare sector as well as British expats and university lecturers all believe it’s an over-reaction doomed to destroy any real hope of a tourism revival for the foreseeable future. The result is expected to be the destruction of lives and businesses in the hospitality sector as well as hitting hard on the country’s economy.
One reader of the article in an expat media outlet emailed to say it’s simply nonsense, as the Portuguese district of Faro has only suffered 15 coronavirus deaths whilst her home district of the Wirral has had 238 to date. She added it’s rubbish that she’s at risk should she holiday in Portugal. According to the country’s PM Antonio Costa, he’s tried to publicise the true picture to foreign governments by explaining the country’s localised coronavirus cases are mostly far from the tourist trail, thus making blanket limitations on overseas visitors a mistake.
To date, Hungary and the Netherlands have accepted his reasoning, but the UK itself isn’t changing its unfair stance, thus angering British expats living and working in Portugal as well as on the offshore tourism island of Madeira. One determined Brit expat told the media she’d be arriving in the UK early in August and is planning to refuse quarantine, refuse to give details of accommodation and also to refuse to pay a fine should she be given one. Should she be arrested, she added, friends in the UK will contact the media.
In yet another chaotic decision, the UK has ruined Portugal’s chances of tourism revenue this year by refusing to establish a quarantine-free ‘air bridge’. Worse still, other world countries have concluded Portugal is an unsafe destination simply by accepting the UK’s flawed reasoning. Professionals in the healthcare sector as well as British expats and university lecturers all believe it’s an over-reaction doomed to destroy any real hope of a tourism revival for the foreseeable future. The result is expected to be the destruction of lives and businesses in the hospitality sector as well as hitting hard on the country’s economy.
One reader of the article in an expat media outlet emailed to say it’s simply nonsense, as the Portuguese district of Faro has only suffered 15 coronavirus deaths whilst her home district of the Wirral has had 238 to date. She added it’s rubbish that she’s at risk should she holiday in Portugal. According to the country’s PM Antonio Costa, he’s tried to publicise the true picture to foreign governments by explaining the country’s localised coronavirus cases are mostly far from the tourist trail, thus making blanket limitations on overseas visitors a mistake.
To date, Hungary and the Netherlands have accepted his reasoning, but the UK itself isn’t changing its unfair stance, thus angering British expats living and working in Portugal as well as on the offshore tourism island of Madeira. One determined Brit expat told the media she’d be arriving in the UK early in August and is planning to refuse quarantine, refuse to give details of accommodation and also to refuse to pay a fine should she be given one. Should she be arrested, she added, friends in the UK will contact the media.
Comments » No published comments just yet for this article...
Feel free to have your say on this item. Go on... be the first!
