Mallorca ramps up testing to meet Germany’s requirements

Mallorca is scrambling to meet Germany’s new requirement that its citizens on holiday there test negative for coronavirus before their return home, opening testing centres at the airport and in large hotels, and boosting lab capacity.

Accommodating Berlin’s travel rules, introduced at three days notice, is a test for Balearic authorities and private health care providers on how flexible they must be in future months to keep foreign tourists arriving and booking more holidays.

But German tourists already in Mallorca are disgruntled at the rule change, after already having to show a negative result to enter Spain. Future bookings have also been hit.

“The process of getting a test appointment has cost us a day of our holiday, and the test several hours, it’s all quite a hassle,” German tourist Andreas, who did not give his last name, said at the airport, by a testing booth.