The EU Member States had not yet initiated, as of Friday 21 May, the revision of the list of third countries whose residents can enter the EU for non-essential travel, as the issue had not been discussed by their ambassadors to the EU.
However, a diplomatic source confirmed British media reports that the UK may not yet be on the list due to the Indian variant of the coronavirus spreading in the country.
The new recommendation increases the criteria for bringing in more tourists. The UK meets the criteria (incidence rate below 75 cases/100,000 people over the last two weeks), but the presence of variants on its soil is a concern and should be considered.
However, Spain has already decided to welcome vaccinated British tourists from June onwards without additional measures. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)