Greece Bank Holiday confusion as tourism officials say entry rules will ‘not change’ this weekend

This spring and summer, confusion reigns over Greece’s travel rules as the tourism board says the country’s current border restrictions will not be eased from May 1.

This is despite the statement by the Greek Minister of Health The current Covid rules would be suspended from May to August.

On April 12, Health Secretary Thanos Plevris appeared on Skai TV and said that Covid cases had fallen far enough “to proceed with the suspension of the protective measures put in place from May 1st”.

Both local and international press took this to mean that all remaining Covid measures – including using vaccination certificates domestically to access venues, wearing masks indoors and requiring either a vaccination certificate or a PCR test result to be presented for entry into Greece – would be lifted.

Stressing that the move would be a suspension rather than a definitive end to restrictions, Mr Plevris said: “The measures will be reviewed again in September.

However, the Greek government later clarified that mask-wearing indoors would remain in place until June 1 – and the country’s tourism board now says entry restrictions will not be eased this Sunday.

A representative of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) said The Independent that there has been no indication from the Ministry of Tourism that travel rules will change as of May 1 and they expect entry requirements to remain the same for the foreseeable future.

According to the government website travel.gov.grthe last update to Greek rules came when the country removed its passenger locator form on March 15.

It states that current Covid travel rules – proof of double vaccination, recent recovery or a PCR test result – will apply until May 1, 2022, but does not say what happens after that.

Regarding mask-wearing, the website confirms that “indoor mask-wearing will remain in place until May 31. As of June 1st, the obligation will be lifted with exceptions to be clarified in the coming weeks.”

That said a source from Marketing Greece, who declined to be named The Independent: “There was a misunderstanding about this and it was incorrectly reproduced by some media.

“Starting May 1st, no vaccination or proof of recovery will be required to enter all indoor and outdoor facilities. Based on the information we currently have, a vaccination/convalescence certificate is still required to enter the country.

“Within the next period, the government will study the possibility of lifting this restriction as well, and if so, an official announcement will be made.”

Many tourism industry figures expected Greece to relax its Covid travel rules in time for the popular spring and summer tourism season.

It follows confusion in March over Spain’s tourism rules, when the tourist board mistakenly announced an easing of restrictions that would allow unvaccinated Brits, before reversing and sticking with the previous ban on unvaccinated travellers.