Spain, Portugal suspend flights from UK: Madrid

Spain and Portugal have decided to suspend flights from United Kingdom due to the emergence of a highly infectious strain of the coronavirus there, the Spanish government said Monday.

Madrid will from Tuesday ban all entries from the United Kingdom except for Spanish nationals and residents, the statement added.

In addition, Spain said it will reinforce controls at its border with Gibraltar, a tiny British territory on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

Cases of the more infectious coronavirus strain have been identified there, according to a British government spokesman.

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya will immediately inform London and the European Commission of the new measures, the statement said.

Countries worldwide began to suspend flights from Britain after it said over the weekend that a new strain of the coronavirus was spreading “out of control”.

The restrictions have also covered other countries where the new strain has been discovered, including South Africa and Denmark.