Sara Pedro is sitting in a restaurant by the beach with friends. This is the first time she has dined at the restaurant in three months.
She is in Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugalhaving left his hometown of Lisbon’s strict coronavirus restrictions to take advantage of the Atlantic island’s more relaxed atmosphere and its ‘green corridor’ for visitors who can show either a vaccination certificate or proof that they have recently recovered from the virus.
“I came to Madeira because in mainland Portugal we are under absolute lockdown, so there was some fatigue about that,” she says.
Sara, who has recovered from Covid-19, entered Madeira without having to take a PCR test, as would usually be required. Instead, she presented a medical certificate proving that she had been in contact with the virus.
The island has a 7 p.m. curfew, but in its capital, Funchal, the esplanades are full of people having a coffee in the sun as customers enter and leave the shops. This stands in stark contrast to the empty streets and shuttered storefronts of mainland Portugal, which is still under severe restrictions imposed on January 15 to deal with what was then the world’s worst coronavirus surge.
“Obviously closing the borders is necessary for extreme situations, but I think it’s time to bet on safe tourism. Why can’t this be done in other European countries? Sara asks then waiter arrives with drinks.
Located off the coast of Morocco and more than 800 km from mainland Portugal, Madeira is one of the few places in Europe to accept tourists – and since February 18 it has been operating a green corridor for tourists who have recovered of Covid-19 over the past 90 years. days or who have been fully vaccinated against it, in a taste of what could be a future of vaccine passports for EU travel.
Vaccinated travelers must present a vaccination certificate in English, validated in their country of origin, which includes their name, date of birth, type of vaccine and the date (or dates) it was administered. Tourists must also respect the activation period indicated in the summary of product characteristics of the vaccine.
Eduardo Jesus, the regional tourism secretary, said: “We felt the need to make this decision because we are looking at the reality that the markets are sizzling in terms of the desire to travel.” He added: “Everyone has the right to travel, so our biggest goal is to make people’s lives easier.”
The regional government does not yet have the number of vaccinated tourists who have entered the island under the green corridor rules. But authorities have high expectations for the “vaccine passport”, hoping it will be a major selling point in attracting British tourists, who make up 27% of visitors, when the UK allows travel again.
“There is great interest from the British population to visit Madeira… and if the May 17 opening takes place, we will have a summer to recover from all of this,” Jesus said.
Paulo Prada, the director of the Pestana Hotel Group, said many of his British customers had told him they were just waiting for their second injection of the vaccine and the lifting of restrictions so they could return to Madeira.
He said: “We are very dependent on the UK market. We know he will be the first to resume the journey. We are waiting for the UK to follow its deconfinement plan so that the British can start to arrive gradually. »
“I think this measure is an absolute advantage for British tourists who want to come to Madeira because most of them will already be vaccinated by May and can arrive in peace,” he added.
Of the Pestana group’s 13 hotels in Madeira, only one is open – at 10% capacity – but Prada still maintains the situation is better than in mainland Portugal where the group’s hotels in Porto and Lisbon are closed. On the half-empty breakfast terrace overlooking the ocean, most customers are Portuguese, but Prada said customers were younger than usual and some were from countries like Poland and the Czech Republic, “which is also an opportunity”.
Margarita and Kristoff from Poland were first time visitors to Madeira. “We chose Madeira because it was the only destination available,” Kristoff explained as he snapped photos of his wife against the lush green and blue backdrop of Madeira’s coastline.
“It’s a beautiful island, and we have enough of everything. There is no problem [with the restrictions],” he said.
Eduardo Jesus said he hoped “whatever the EU decides” regarding travel and vaccinations this summer would not be too different from what Madeira is already doing.
He said: “We expect that until July…August there will be a comfortable percentage of people vaccinated in Europe, which is a market that feeds us, touristically speaking.
“We must create the conditions that allow everyone to travel. And we have a duty to find the way to welcome them in the most comfortable way. »
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