Portugal to Open its Borders for Tourists from Certain Countries Only
Portugal will soon open its borders for tourists from a selected number of countries, mostly for the EU Member States and Portuguese speaking countries.
Despite that the Portuguese government hasn’t issued an official announcement regarding such a decision yet, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva told the Observador that such a move has been taken, and tourists will soon be eligible to enter the country.
“Tourists are welcome in Portugal, [this summer],” he said during the interview, despite not giving any certain date when that would happen.
He, however, noted that arrivals by air would be subject to health checks but not to compulsory quarantine.
According to the Minister, travellers that may soon enter the territory of Portugal include nationals of countries from the Schengen Area, other than Italians and Spaniards, as well as visitors from Canada, Brazil, United States of America, and Portuguese speaking countries.
In addition to Minister Santo Silva’s statements, some Portuguese regional tourist boards including Madeira and Porto Santo, have announced they plan to reopen to international tourists from July 1. The boards have noted that travellers will need to present negative test results from within 72 hours prior to departure or be tested on arrival, paid for by the local government.
Currently, Portugal has permitted, stores, book shops, restaurants, cafes, and libraries to now open for business. Yet, restaurants and cafes are working with 50 per cent capacity and will close up at 11 PM.
Religious celebrations have been permitted from May 30, while cinemas, concert halls, auditoriums, and theatres are set to open from June 1, but with reduced capacity. Beaches too are looking to open up on June 6.
Flights are already running to Portugal’s three major airports, and more airlines are resuming routes soon. Flights will be permitted from all countries in the European Schengen travel zone except Spain and Italy, plus the UK, US, Canada, Brazil and a handful of other Portuguese-speaking countries.
Within the last days, several EU and Schengen member states have announced they would be opening their borders to the nationals of other fellow member states for non-essential entry.
Greece has decided to open its borders for several EU and non-EU countries in which the rate of infections has decreased from June 15, which countries are: Albania, Australia, Austria, Northern Macedonia, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Estonia, Japan, Israel, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Romania, New Zealand, Norway, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Finland.
At the same time, starting from June 15, Norwegians wishing to travel to Denmark for whatever purpose will be able to do so after two months of border closure between the two Nordic states. Danes will also be able to travel to Norway after both countries have agreed to reopen for tourist trips between the two countries from mid- June.
