Madeira clarifies entry rules after Portugal update

Madeira has confirmed that it will not expect non-vaccinated travellers to quarantine when it moves to the green watchlist from Wednesday.

Portugal has announced that visitors from the UK will be required to quarantine if they have not received both doses of a recognised Covid vaccine.

However, Madeira tourism chiefs said the island would be “welcoming all UK travellers without quarantine, whether vaccinated or not, in line with government regulations to ensure the safety of all”.

Those who have had both vaccines or have recovered from Covid will not be required to undergo testing to enter Madeira. Those who are not vaccinated continue to be required to present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival, or take a free test on arrival and isolate pending the results.

One free PCR test per visitor is offered, to be taken on arrival or departure, with results in six to 12 hours.

A statement said: “The Covid-19 situation in Madeira is under excellent control. There are no cases of the Delta variant currently. In the past month here has been a 73% decrease in active cases and there are only 61 active cases – there are 18 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days as of 27 June, which remains one of the lowest rates in Europe.

“Furthermore, more than one third of the population has been fully vaccinated and the tourism sector is soon going to complete its vaccination programme. In Porto Santo, Madeira’s sister island, 70% of the population older than 16 are fully vaccinated, which means that the island has reached group immunisation.”

The statement also confirmed that curfew hours have now been reduced to between 1am until 5am. Restaurants can open for dinner until midnight.