- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
ARCHIVED - Madrid president asks Spanish Government to suspend flights from South Africa and Brazil due to mutations
A country that does not protect its borders does not protect its citizens she said after a visit to a hospital in the region
The president of the Region of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has requested that the national government suspend Spain's air connections with South Africa and Brazil in the light of the new strains of Covid-19 detected in both countries, which are proving to be highly contagious.
Madrid is currently the region of Spain which has detected the highest number of cases of the “British variant”, which is believed to be behind the significant expansion of coronavirus in the UK during December and which has prompted the lockdown in the UK.
"The Government acted late when it decided to stop flights from the United Kingdom," said the Madrid leader referring to the suspension of flights to the UK when the widespread distribution of the variant B.1.1.7, commonly known as the British variant was revealed by the British Government just before Christmas.
Pedimos al Gobierno que estudie suspender los vuelos que llegan desde Brasil y Sudáfrica hasta conocer más datos sobre las nuevas cepas.
— Isabel Díaz Ayuso (@IdiazAyuso) January 18, 2021
No podemos permitir que el virus siga entrando por Barajas. No podemos volver a empezar.
Hay que actuar rápido. pic.twitter.com/A8yjA0Nzrc
France became the first to close its borders to UK nationals, the closure of ports causing massive problems for the transport sector while measures were put in place to test drivers returning to the continent.
Spain was one of more than 50 countries which rapidly closed their borders to UK nationals, other than those returning to Spain as their principal residence. However, the closures were not swift enough to prevent a number of individuals carrying the new variant to enter Spain, and on a daily basis, new cases are coming to light.
The British Governemnt has been heavily criticised for failing to reveal the true spread of the variant earlier, thus allowing flights from the UK to continue worldwide and resulting in the variant now being present all over the world.
The “British variant” is being blamed by some regions as being an accelerant in the sudden surge in new cases, particularly Andalucía which blamed it for the “explosion in new cases” in the Campo de Gibraltar and the Andalucía region. This week the Spanish Government is undertaking a sampling exercise to try and ascertain how widely the variant has spread across Spain.
Last Friday, the Region of Madrid confirmed that it is studying a possible case of the South African variant which had entered via Barajas airport and has already confirmed around fifty cases of the British variant, the highest number of any region in Spain, although cases have been confirmed in 11 other regions (on Sunday evening the Murcia region confirmed three new cases).
Díaz Ayuso says that this presence is "explosive" and is requesting the cancellation of connections with South Africa and Brazil, in order to minimize risks with the new strains. "A country that does not protect its borders does not protect its citizens," said Díaz Ayuso, who has criticized the central government for not acting "forcefully" at its airports to prevent these flights entering without "any control".
Are these three variants any more dangerous?
It's suspected that the British, South African and Brazilian variants could be much more contagious as they have undergone changes to their spike protein and seem to be better at infecting cells and spreading.
Experts think the British or "Kent" strain/variant emerged in September and may be up to 70% more transmissible or infectious, although latest research by Public Health England puts it between 30% and 50%. It is this variant which has driven the latest lockdowns around the UK.
The South Africa variant emerged in October, and it has more potentially important changes in the spike protein than the UK variant.
The Brazil variant emerged in July and has three key mutations in the spike protein that make it similar to the South Africa one.
The UK government has announced a ban on flights from South America and Portugal as a result of this development.
None of the three variants is believed to be more “dangerous” but the very fact that they are more contagious means that a larger percentage of people are likely to be infected, which leads to a higher rate of hospitalisations and deaths.
Cartagena
El Carmoli
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Manga del Mar Menor
La Puebla
La Torre Golf Resort
La Union
Los Alcazares
Los Belones
Los Nietos
Los Urrutias
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Pilar de la Horadada
Playa Honda / Playa Paraiso
Portman
Roldan and Lo Ferro
San Javier
San Pedro del Pinatar
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
Torre Pacheco
Aledo
Alhama de Murcia
Bolnuevo
Camposol
Condado de Alhama
Fuente Alamo
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Lorca
Mazarron
Puerto de Mazarron
Puerto Lumbreras
Sierra Espuna
Totana
Abaran
Alcantarilla
Archena
Blanca
Corvera
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Lorqui
Molina de Segura
Mosa Trajectum
Murcia City
Peraleja Golf Resort
Ricote
Sucina
Condado de Alhama
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Torre Golf Resort
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Mazarron Country Club
Mosa Trajectum
Peraleja Golf Resort
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
La Zenia
Lomas de Cabo Roig
CAMPOSOL TODAY Whats OnCartagena SpainCoronavirusCorvera Airport MurciaMurcia Gota Fria 2019Murcia property news generic threadWeekly Bulletin