“What we said was that British travellers who come to Portugal, with a negative test on arrival, can enter Portugal. That does not mean that Portugal is open to the English without taking care to check their health conditions in regards to covid-19”, said Augusto Santos Silva in the European Affairs parliamentary committee.

“It is difficult to understand the positions of some member state governments that now want to propose new criteria. What we have done in relation to the British is that from the 1st July the new criteria will be mandatory within the EU”, said the minister, who was answering a question from the PCP on travel rules for EU citizens.

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized the lack of common rules in the European Union (EU) regarding travel, giving as an example the situation of increased contagion in Portugal, which in her view “could have been avoided” , referring in particular to the permission given by Portugal, which currently chairs the Council of the EU, for the entry of tourists – such as the British.