Formentera applauds Holy Week travel ban in islands

foto 2021 valoracio tancamentRegion will prohibit travel to and from rest of Spain, except, as local gov’t requested early on, inter-island travel

Earlier today Consell de Formentera premiere Alejandra Ferrer hailed news the Govern balear would forbid travellers from entering or leaving the Balearic Islands and went even further, calling on the central government to close Spain to tourists from abroad. Just as the island’s government had issued an appeal to the Balearic first minister to prohibit travel into and out of the region, the local premiere has today dispatched a letter to the Spanish health, consumption and social welfare minister and industry, commerce and tourism minister requesting a sealing-off of national borders to all international travellers.

“The Easter holidays are crucial: people are tired and they need politicians to be coherent in the decisions we make. Our response mustn’t leave things worse than they are now”, said Ferrer. “For Spain to be under lockdown and our communities to be facing countless restrictions while international travellers can come and go on holiday as usual is absolute nonsense”, she continued. “Now is the time for Madrid to show responsibility and halt travel in order to protect our wellbeing and our economy, especially considering the epidemiological situation in many European countries today.”

The local leader reiterated previous appeals for a slow de-escalation of restrictions, drawing parallels between Formentera’s current situation and the state of play just before the long weekend in early December, when the island’s case count shot from zero to 170. “We need people and politicians to be responsible if we intend to avoid a repeat of the same situation”, she asserted.

Vaccination push
President Ferrer insisted that with the mass vaccination effort set to resume today, “if we want our immunity to be at a safe level, it’s crucial that any move to reopen happen hand in hand with vaccination. The public and private sectors will have to work together to implement the full arsenal of measures to make sure the summer season ahead is as safe as possible”.

Inter-island travel OK
From 26 March to 11 April the Balearics will be closed to all but inter-island travel, just as Consell officials had previously requested. President Ferrer seized the opportunity to ask people in the region to be responsible and respect measures so the Easter holidays don’t trigger another wave of infections, and called for immediate targeted closures to stem viral spread should the situation worsen on any one of the islands. She also welcomed news that antigen tests will be given to inter-island travellers who stay more than 72 hours in another location.

New restrictions
The Consell de Formentera is currently preparing the latest round of infographics to keep islanders informed about restrictions set to take effect between 26 March and 11 April, not to mention a special document to bring foreign travellers up to speed on local restrictions should international travel be permitted.

24 March 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera