Spain Bans Travel from South Africa, Brazil

Feb. 2—MADRID — Spain on Tuesday became the latest country in Europe to place a temporary ban on travel from South Africa and Brazil in a bid to prevent the spread of the more virulent coronavirus strains detected there.

The ban on arrivals from the two countries comes into force on Wednesday and will initially remain in place for two weeks, government spokesperson Maria Jesus Montero announced.

Citizens of Spain and Andorra as well as people who have their main residence in Spain or Andorra are not affected by the entry ban.

Travellers transiting through Spanish airports whose final destination is outside the Schengen area may also continue to board planes to Spain.

Air arrivals from Britain, where another more contagious variant of the coronavirus has been detected, have not been allowed into Spain since December 22, with a few exceptions.

Spain is battling a fresh wave of coronavirus infections, registering 1,026 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days, according to the EU health agency ECDC.

Among the 30 countries covered by the data, only Portugal is worse off, with 1,429 per 100,000 over 14 days. The land border between Portugal and Spain has been largely closed since Sunday.

___

Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.