Belgium has announced they are relaxing travel advice to the Canary Islands, as well as to the Valencia region, and it will no longer be mandatory for visitors to go into a quarantine upon return to the country from these regions. The news that Belgium is relaxing travel restrictions could well indicate similar moves from other source markets across Europe.

According to the Belgian Foreign Ministry, they have lowered theit rating of the entire Canary Islands and the three Valencian provinces from red to orange.

The Belgian Government is relaxing travel restrictions though still recommending extreme caution and, upon return, it is advised that citizens undergo voluntary isolation or that diagnostic tests are carried out, but they are not mandatory.

The rest of Spain remains at level red, and the Belgian authorities still require mandatory quarantine and PCR tests to return.

Several other EU countries are designated level orange by the Belgians, including Italy, Portugal -except for the metropolitan area of ​​Lisbon-, Greece, Germany and some provinces of France.

In Belgium there has been concern about the epidemiological situation in Spain and the authorities have been actively discouraging travel.

Spain is the second most popular destination for Belgians who travel abroad. Last year 1.6 million trips of at least four days to Spain were registered.

The Canary Islands are widely seen as a safe tourist destination, with much lower infection rates than elsewhere in Spain, and having successfully controlled a minor second wave on the islands over the last six weeks. This week also brought good news, with the lowest daily infection increase reported since mid August. Although there are still clusters of infection on the islands, for the most part they are nowhere near the tourist resorts, and seem to be centered now around the capital of Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, among the native population. Nevertheless the Canary Islands government has done an exemplary job in defining protocols, spotting new infections, and controlling the spread of the virus. This will undoubtedly give comfort to tour operators and airlines looking for safe winter destinations, with the Canary Islands likely to be top of the bill in Europe.