Travellers returning from holidays in Spain vented their frustration today, complaining their plans had been "ruined" by the Government's new quarantine rules.
As of midnight on Saturday, holidaymakers were told they must self-isolate for 14 days upon their return to the UK from Spain after the European country recorded a surge in coronavirus cases.
Initially the the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised only against "all non-essential" travel to mainland Spain, but this advice was updated to include the Balearic and Canary Islands on Monday evening.
The latest travel advice reads: "The FCO advise against all non-essential travel to Spain, including the Balearic and Canary Islands, based on the current assessment of Covid-19 risks in the country."
People who had just left the country for Spain or had plans to travel have expressed shock and confusion at the new rules.
One traveller shared footage of long queues at Luton Airport as people arrived in the UK from Spain.
The social media user implied that there were too many passengers for social distancing to take place. "Bring on the quarantine," he said in a Twitter post.
“We waited for the appropriate time and I specifically waited for the quarantine to have been lifted from Spain, and I absolutely wouldn’t have gone with a quarantine," Mr Allen said.
“We all sort of resigned ourselves in fact pretty quickly that there was nothing we could do about it, we just have to follow the rules and we get that, but I think we’re all frustrated.”
The 32-year-old said he had not had any official communication from the Government about the quarantine but understood its importance.
He added: “I was expecting perhaps at border control there’d be some big old posters or digital screens – or people with megaphones perhaps saying ‘Don’t forget you need to isolate’.
“What would have been useful is for someone who made it clear in advance – ‘There is a real possibility that you could get stopped from coming home’.
“You can argue that I was naive for not knowing that, but I think it might have been helpful.”
Laura Wood, 41, from Oxfordshire, flew from Gatwick to Spain’s Costa Blanca with her family for a two-week holiday. She returned on Sunday, shortly after the measures took effect.
“It was a bit of a last-minute disappointment to the end of the holiday but we’re going to get on with it," said Ms Wood. "There has to be a cut-off, I guess, and we were just on the unlucky side of it.”
“It was a different type of holiday than we’ve had, you don’t kind of expect to be walking along the seafront wearing a mask in 30-degree heat,” she added.
Mrs Wood said she had experienced some “smug” responses from people at home and online after the measures were announced.
“I think it works both ways; I don’t think people can complain about the quarantine necessarily because we knew we were taking risks, but I think people’s joy at other people’s misfortune is a bit sad.”
Sophia Fadil, from Brighton, 32, works in retail after being made redundant during lockdown from her job in the travel industry.
She is currently on holiday in the Alicante region with her partner and son.
She said the measures are a “slap in the face” for the travel industry.
“I think this was outrageous that the Government finally confirmed it three hours before it was implemented so that didn’t give anyone enough time to travel home if they needed to,” she said.
Craig Cowgill, from Bury, said he may lose out on pay in his role as manager of a small business due to the Government’s decision to reimpose a blanket quarantine requirement for arrivals from Spain.
Mr Cowgill, who is due to fly to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands on Thursday, said he will “have to still come in or not get paid” upon his return to the UK.
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“I don’t know what to do at this moment. I’m hoping Jet2 will offer a refund or the Government change the quarantine from the islands,” he said.
“I can understand about Spain, but they say it’s safe where we are going, so why quarantine us then? It’s either one or the other – (you) can’t send people, then ask them to quarantine and not offer refunds.”
Passengers continued to fly to and return from Spain at Belfast International Airport on Monday.
Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann said those returning from Spain must observe a 14-day quarantine, following similar moves across the rest of the UK.
On Sunday evening, Mr Swann said the decision was not taken lightly, and was made to keep people safe.
“There is no ideal time to make such a decision. A phased introduction would not have made sense. Public health considerations must take priority,” he said.
“The decision was taken after consideration of the latest data."
Edith Mikutenaite and Aleksanda Sabalina, from Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, who returned from Barcelona on Monday, described the news of having to quarantine following a three-night trip as “horrible”.
“It ruined the whole holiday,” said Ms Sabalina.
“We did not expect that at all, we thought the announcement would be made on Monday or at least some sort of notice for people who had already left without knowing there was going to be a quarantine to ensure they had any work issues sorted out.”
Ms Mikutenaite said: “It is totally unfair – we only went away for three days and now we are going to be stuck for 14 days at home.”
They said they have informed their employers that they travelled but need to discuss further their quarantine arrangements.
“We don’t know how this is going to affect work,” Ms Mikutenaite said.
“Our children now have nothing to do and nowhere to go for the next two weeks just because we went on a short trip,” Ms Sabalina added.
Christopher Halliday, from Belfast, was visiting his mother in Barcelona.
“Everything in Barcelona was very safe, everyone was wearing face masks, to be honest I think they are ahead of us in terms of safety, so I just don’t understand this decision they have made,” he said.
“We were over for a week, we hadn’t seen my mother in over a year. We were going to stay an extra week but we weren’t sure what the situation was going to be so we came home today.”
Easyjet runs the current flights which operate between Northern Ireland and Spain.
A spokeswoman said it is too early to say whether passenger numbers have been affected by the quarantine announcement, but added the airline will continue to operate its full schedule in the coming days while monitoring the situation closely.
“We are disappointed that the Government has decided to impose a quarantine requirement for those travelling from the whole of Spain since the increased occurrence of coronavirus is regional rather than nationwide,” the airline said in a statement.
“We plan to operate our full schedule in the coming days. Customers who no longer wish to travel can transfer their flights without a change fee or receive a voucher for the value of the booking.”
Additional reporting by the Press Association