Canary Islands: FCDO fails to change travel advice risking ‘chaos’ for holidaymakers

Following the news, travel expert Paul Charles described it as “utterly devastating news” for both “consumers” and “travel firms”.

Now, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has issued a new warning for Britons who are still eyeing the winter sun destination.

Despite this, it has not yet advised against travel to the holiday hotspot, risking “chaos” for travellers.

At the time of writing, according to the FCDO: “Spain, including the Balearic Islands but excluding the Canary Islands, based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks.”

Travel experts from Which? have slammed the Government for not “coordinating” FCDO advice.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “It is hugely unfair for the government to remove the Canary Islands from its travel corridors list due to high rates of coronavirus, without also updating the FCDO’s advice to reflect this.

“Package holiday customers who wish to cancel because they cannot quarantine on arrival back to the UK will struggle to get a refund, as operators are less likely to cancel without a change to FCDO advice.

“The government must ensure that it coordinates its approach to changing travel advice, while travel operators must offer flexible rebooking options to those who cannot travel, to prevent causing further chaos for holidaymakers and leaving them thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result.”

READ MORE: Spain holidays: Canary Islands removed from travel corridors