Green list news – live: Balearics moved to amber list as Bulgaria and Croatia go green

Malta has amended its travel advice after confusion over a batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine blocked some UK travellers from entering the country, the transport secretary has said.

Grant Shapps had said the Government would confront Malta earlier on Wednesday after reports it was turning away people vaccinated with jabs made in India, which have not been authorised by Europe’s medicines regulator despite being the same as other AstraZeneca vaccines.

He later tweeted: “The Maltese authorities have amended their travel advice so anyone who has an Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK (regardless of manufacture location) is able to travel without being turned away – with all vaccines having gone through rigorous safety and quality checks.”

Matthew White, a naturalised Maltese resident originally from the UK, said he was “very grateful” the change had been made but added that it was “about time”.

A presidential proclamation made on 14 March last year banned UK travellers from entering the US because their presence “threatens the security of our transportation system and infrastructure and the national security”.

It prevents holidays and non-essential business or family trips to the US. The principle exception is: “Any alien whose entry would be in the national interest.”

According to the UK’s Foreign Office advice, British nationals who have been in the UK, Ireland, Schengen zone, Iran, Brazil, China and South Africa in the previous 14 days will not be granted entry.

Anyone arriving from elsewhere will be subject to usual entry rules: either with a visa or with an Esta visa waiver.

These rules don’t apply to US citizens and permanent residents of the US, as well as close family members and other limited visa holders.

Remember the travel taskforce established to consider how to reopen UK-US travel? Its work continues, but the long-awaited travel corridor between over the Atlantic is unlikely to open before the end of the summer, according to reports.

On 29 June, the Financial Times reported that talks between the two have stalled, with officials involved saying it was unlikely a conclusion would be reached by the end of July. Concern over the rise of Delta cases in the UK and uncertainty over the AstraZeneca vaccine are thought to be behind the delay.

Hopes that the US would be included in today’s earlier-than-scheduled reshuffle have now been dashed.

At a time when the rules of the travel game are changing daily, The Independent has created a new daily podcast on the top travel issues of the day.

Each day Simon Calder will bring you the latest news and give you my analysis in 10 minutest or less.

Follow the link for Simon’s episode from today:

The government has pinned its decision to move the Balearics to the amber list on the worsening Covid-19 situation there.

So what is exactly happening with the pandemic in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza?

There has been a sharp surge in cases since the end of June. The 7-day rolling average has risen ten-fold in the four weeks from 23 June to yesterday. Up from 43 to 415.

There were 1,738 new cases reported yesterday, up from 256 on Tuesday last week.

In yet more misery for British holidaymakers, it was announced that Spain’s Balearic Islands would be downgraded to amber in the latest review to the UK’s travel traffic light system, which took place on 14 July.

The Mediterranean isles include tourism favourites Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca.

Helen Coffey has what you need to know about travelling to the Balearics this summer:

Putting this back up after Simon Calder found that plane ticket prices from the Balearics have skyrocketed:

Fares from Spain’s Balearic islands to the UK have soared as holidaymakers seek to beat the latest quarantine deadline, Simon Calder has found. Prices for two Ryanair flights rose nine-fold in two hours.

An hour before the travel announcement earlier, Ryanair’s morning and evening flights from Palma de Mallorca to Manchester were priced at just €14 (£12).

An hour afterwards, Europe’s biggest budget airline was charging almost nine times more: €125 (£107).

More from our travel correspondent here:

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said the government had further undermined consumer faith in travel at a difficult time for the industry.

He said: “Today’s announcement reinforces the belief that the current government framework for international travel is not working as it was designed to.

“While the vaccination programme is permitting a full reopening of the domestic economy, international travel between safe countries – with low infections and high vaccination rates – is still being portrayed as though it is a serious danger to public health.

“Moving countries between the tiers like this is shattering consumer trust during an already unpredictable booking season. It is time the government implemented a consistent and transparent travel policy, rather than the current rollercoaster ride of changes, which is condemning international travel to the status of second-class citizen.”

The head of easyJet has accused the government of maintaining a “double standard” of restrictions for home and abroad.

Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, said: “In the UK infection rates are high and rising, with the highest rates of the Delta variant in Europe, while rates in much of Europe remain lower than the UK.

“So we cannot understand why the government is going to allow people to go to a nightclub – without a mask or social distancing – and yet is not comfortable with people going to the beaches of Europe, where the infection rates are lower than in the UK.

“Yet again we see this double standard where travel is treated differently to the domestic economy.”