Spain to open borders with France, Portugal

Spain will lift all restrictions to border crossings with France and Portugal from June 22, the Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said on Thursday, according to foreign media.

The authorities closed the borders to everybody but Spaniards, cross-border workers, and truck drivers from mid-March when the country went into lockdown to curb the coronavirus contagion.

Maroto told reporters that Spain would probably lift quarantine for people coming in by land from France and Portugal then, but added that was yet to be approved.

Spain had initially said that it would only start lifting restriction to borders as of July 1, before adding over the past days that some could be lifted earlier.

France has already said it was in favor of Europe opening its internal borders from June 15.

Portugal officially closed the border until June 15, but the government had previously said it assumed it would remain closed until the end of the month because of Spain's restrictions - which now will themselves be lifted earlier.

Spain, one of the hotbeds of the pandemic in Europe, has confirmed 240,326 cases, and 27,128 related deaths so far.