London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jan 26, 2026

Portugal added to UK's safe travel list as Croatia is removed

Portugal added to UK's safe travel list as Croatia is removed

UK tourists will no longer need to quarantine after holidaying in Portugal, but travellers returning from Croatia will have to self-isolate.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said people will need to self-isolate for 14 days on returning from Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago.
The changes apply to anyone arriving after 04:00 BST on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Scottish government has added Switzerland to its list of countries requiring quarantine.

The Portuguese government welcomed the changes as "useful for all those who travel between Portugal and the United Kingdom".

It said the move was "proof of the good outcome of intense bilateral work" and "allowed for an understanding that the situation in the country has always been under control".




But consumer group Which? said the change in rules for Portugal was "likely to come too late to help many struggling holiday companies" and called for support for the travel industry.

The latest updates to the quarantine list come after thousands of British holidaymakers made a last-minute dash to get home from France last weekend, before quarantine measures came into force.

It is thought around 20,000 British tourists are currently in Croatia.



Responding to the changes, Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said the government had "now made it clear that countries can be removed or added from the travel corridor list at a moment's notice".

He said the policy made it "too risky" for those who are unable to quarantine to travel.

But he added that holidaymakers who want to follow government advice and avoid non-essential travel to specified countries are finding it "increasingly difficult to claim a refund".

Mr Boland also called on the government to provide "urgent" support to the travel industry, adding: "The addition of Portugal is likely to come too late to help many struggling holiday companies who are at the point of collapse, as summer trips have already been cancelled."

'We already cancelled Barcelona'


The Tucker family, from Cambridge, were at a waterfront café on the Croatian island of Solta, off the coast of Split, when they heard they would have to quarantine on their return to the UK.

"We already cancelled a holiday in Barcelona because of quarantine rules," said mum Luzita, 50, a childminder.

"We've always wanted to come to Croatia so we looked at the infection rates and they seemed very low."

She said it was good the government had acted decisively, but suggested there were other options.

"Why not [carry out] virus testing at the airport when we arrive back in the UK? And surely using public transport to get home could be a risk."

Diane Barwick was in the Croatian town of Zadar visiting her daughter - having cancelled a planned trip to France when that country was removed from the exemption list.

She told BBC News: "My daughter should have been married here in May. I've not seen her for nearly a year and have had three flights cancelled this year."

Unlike many other British visitors to Croatia, she had responded to rumours that the country was set to be removed from the exemption list by booking an alternative early flight home.

Beating the deadline


That means she should be able to get home before the deadline and back to her job in retail.

"If you're in France you can get the boat or Eurostar. Here it's a flight only. I've got to travel three hours tomorrow to get to the airport in Croatia," she said.

The Department of Transport has advised people in Croatia, Trinidad and Tobago and Austria to follow local rules and check the Foreign Office website for further information.

In a statement, it urged employers to be "understanding of those returning from these destinations who now will need to self-isolate".

But children currently on holiday in those three countries will now miss the start of the new school term in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - unless their parents can get them home before 04:00 BST on Saturday.



People who do not self-isolate when required can be fined up to £1,000 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In Scotland the fine is £480, and up to £5,000 for persistent offenders.

BBC Balkans correspondent Guy De Launey said only a small number of direct flights from Croatia were due to reach the UK before the deadline of 04:00 BST on Saturday.

The UK introduced the compulsory 14-day quarantine for arrivals from overseas in early June.

But the following month, the four UK nations unveiled lists of "travel corridors", detailing countries that were exempt from the rule.

Since then it has periodically updated that list, adding and removing countries based on their coronavirus infection rates and how they compare with the UK's.

In July, the Portuguese government expressed "regret" at the UK's decision to continue to exclude it from the safe travel list.

The country's foreign minister had previously said he hoped an "air bridge" between the UK and Portugal could be secured by the end of June.



The UK provides the largest number of overseas tourists to Portugal, with more than two million tourists visiting every year.

The Algarve coast is the most popular destination, with 1.2 million visitors from the UK last year.

Travel expert Simon Calder tweeted that the cost of flights from Manchester to Faro on Saturday morning had risen from £50 to £98 in 30 minutes.

"A good time to book that late summer break, though fares are already soaring," he said.

According to the Department for Transport, weekly coronavirus cases are on the rise in Croatia, Austria, Trinidad and Tobago as follows:

* Croatia - 164% increase
* Trinidad and Tobago - 232% increase
* Austria - 93% increase

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
FBI and U.S. prosecutors vs Ryan Wedding’s transnational cocaine-smuggling network: the fight over witness-killing and cross-border enforcement
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Apple and OpenAI Chase Screenless AI Wearables as the Post-iPhone Interface Battle Heats Up
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
OpenAI’s Money Problem: Explosive Growth, Even Faster Costs, and a Race to Stay Ahead
Trump Reverses Course and Criticises UK-Mauritius Chagos Islands Agreement
Elizabeth Hurley Tells UK Court of ‘Brutal’ Invasion of Privacy in Phone Hacking Case
UK Bond Yields Climb as Report Fuels Speculation Over Andy Burnham’s Return to Parliament
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
TikTok’s U.S. Escape Plan: National Security Firewall or Political Theater With a Price Tag?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
Will AI Finally Make Blue-Collar Workers Rich—or Is This Just Elite Tech Spin?
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
Prince Harry Breaks Down in London Court, Says UK Tabloids Have Made Meghan Markle’s Life ‘Absolute Misery’
Malin + Goetz UK Business Enters Administration, All Stores Close
EU and UK Reject Trump’s Greenland-Linked Tariff Threats and Pledge Unified Response
UK Deepfake Crackdown Puts Intense Pressure on Musk’s Grok AI After Surge in Non-Consensual Explicit Images
Prince Harry Becomes Emotional in London Court, Invokes Memory of Princess Diana in Testimony Against UK Tabloids
UK Inflation Rises Unexpectedly but Interest Rate Cuts Still Seen as Likely
AI vs Work: The Battle Over Who Controls the Future of Labor
Buying an Ally’s Territory: Strategic Genius or Geopolitical Breakdown?
AI Everywhere: Power, Money, War, and the Race to Control the Future
Trump vs the World Order: Disruption Genius or Global Arsonist?
×