Can summer be saved after the chaotic introduction of an expanded 'green list'?

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [View in browser]( [The Independent]( [Travel] Simon Calder’s Travel Week [Simon Calder]( Written by Simon Calder | June 25, 2021 This year has generated all manner of sentences you never thought you would say – such as the one I uttered shortly after 6.30pm last night. “If civil servants in Northern Ireland were creating a no-quarantine list of their own,” I ventured to my excellent colleagues, "I really don't think they would bother adding Pitcairn." We were studying an updated webpage that had just appeared on the Stormont government's "nidirect" site. After a day wondering when the much awaited "green list" of quarantine-free destinations would appear, and how widely it would expand, it appeared that Belfast had delivered the answers ahead of the Department for Transport (DfT) in London. Yet with no sign of a bulletin from the DfT, nor the usual tweets from the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, could we be sure that the Northern Ireland list would be mirrored by the other four UK nations? I seized upon the complete irrelevance of including Pitcairn (population 67), which is accessible only via "amber" French Polynesia – on the quarantine-free list. The presence of Pitcairn, plus the British Antarctic Territory – which will join the green list on a day when the top temperature is forecast to be minus 48C – indicates padding, a trait favoured by the DfT, I contended. We published. Atlantic city: Funchal, capital of the Portuguese island of Madeira, now on the green list Just over an hour later, confirmation finally arrived – with a fair amount of complexity. It turned out that while [Malta, belatedly, would be going “full green,” everywhere else, including Madeira and the Balearic islands of Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, are on the “green watchlist”](. In other words, their status could change at short notice. But after the travel chaos the government triggered three weeks ago when it abruptly moved Portugal from green to amber, I don’t predict that will happen. I would cheerfully book to any of them – but not to the scattering of Caribbean islands, as the storm season gets under way. New dawn: a beach in Barbados, a more enticing addition to the green list than the British Antarctic Territory At the other end of the travel spectrum, the "red list" expanded by a further six countries – with no sign of nations such as the UAE and Turkey moving from the hotel quarantine register to the "amber list" of self-isolation at home. From a tourism perspective, [the key red list additions are the Dominican Republic and Tunisia](. The North African nation, in particular, will view the news with dismay. It is the latest wound for the nation that was the scene of two terrible terrorist attacks in 2015 and has endured so much hardship since then. UK visitors already there have five days to get back and avoid hotel quarantine. It makes Tunisia's journey back to normality all the tougher. Destination of the week: Menorca New haven: the harbour at Ciutadella at the western end of Menorca In sheer tourism volume, the big Balearic hitters that are now open to British travellers are Mallorca and Ibiza. But their sister island rates higher for serenity. The extreme east of Menorca is where each new Spanish day dawns, the only fragment of the nation astride the Greenwich Meridian. Menorca has a small city at either end:, Mahon (Maó) in the east, Ciutadella in the west. The latter is my favourite: Ciutadella bears the imprint of all the peoples who have passed through over the millennia: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Moors, Spanish, British, even the French and the tourists. The ancient streets straggle prettily through the old town – which, at its heart, has a handsome 14th-century cathedral. Gravity and appetite guide you back to the waterside, lined with bars and restaurants. Superb coastline wraps around the rest of the island. The beaches have been well looked after, with none of the excessive development that scars some other Mediterranean islands. Partly because of this good husbandry, the island is recognised by Unesco as one of 400 Biosphere Reserves around the world – which means that natural resources and cultural heritage are conserved for future generations. Deals of the week - Quick! I have been watching fares soar to the new green list members, and some of the prices are extraordinary. On 2 July, flying from Stansted to Ibiza on Ryanair and returning a week later is £312. But right now I am looking at a fare of only £96 return on the same route if you can travel out tomorrow and return on Thursday 1 July. On the day that rail "flexi season" tickets go on sale in England, a reminder that other multiple-journey tickets are available. - It is a pleasure to be able to recommend a Jet2 holiday; the company shrewdly opted to avoid the early green list shambles and restarts overseas foreign holidays only on Wednesday 1 July. On that day you can fly for a week from Newcastle to Malta, with a week in the Gillieru Hotel in St Paul's Bay, for £378 including flights, transfers and accommodation. Question of the week: When amber goes green? Question: If you return from an amber country and on day three of quarantine it turns green, do you still have to self-isolate for remaining seven days? Or can you stop quarantine as the country is now green? Answer: Once you begin to quarantine from an amber list country such as Greece, France or Italy, you must continue. There are only three ways to end it: - Complete self-isolation for 10 full days (not counting the day you arrive back in the UK). - In England, take a “test to release” from day five onwards and get a negative result. - Leave the UK. Stories you might like [Simon Calder discusses travelling after May 17]( [Simon Calder discusses travelling after May 17]( [What time is the green list travel announcement today?]( What time is the green list travel announcement today?]( More stories [Northern Ireland adds Malta, Madeira and Balearics to green list]( Northern Ireland adds Malta, Madeira and Balearics to green list]( [Malta and Madeira added to green list in boost for holidaymakers]( Malta and Madeira added to green list in boost for holidaymakers]( Other newsletters you might like [Adam Forrest]( Inside Politics Every weekday, 8am (UK time) Written by Adam Forrest [Join now >]( [Joe Sommerlad]( Daily News Briefing Every weekday, 8am (UK time) Written by Joe Sommerlad [Join now >]( Let me know your thoughts on Twitter [@SimonCalder](. If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. 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