Is this the end of summer holidays? The pain in Spain and what happens next

This is Money Podcast

This is Money

Business News, Business, Investing, News

4.1 • 650 Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2020

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After a great deal of fuss about air bridges and people being able to go on summer holiday, things suddenly changed last weekend.

A swift about turn saw a 14 day quarantine period imposed for those arriving in the UK from Spain at just six hours’ notice, hitting tens of thousands of holidaymakers who are there already, those with trips booked and leaving Britons hoping for some Spanish sunshine stuck in travel limbo… again.

So is this the end of summer holidays for 2020? Are holidays to Spain off the cards for some time, and can you go to France, Italy, Greece or anywhere else safe in the knowledge you can come home and not have to take an extra fortnight off work?

On this week’s podcast Georgie Frost – in Spain and facing a 14 day quarantine if she can get back – is joined by Simon Lambert and Grace Gausden to talk holidays, travel insurance, refunds, air bridges and whether even a staycation is safe.

Plus, as savings rates take another tumble should you lock your money away for five years at 1.1 per cent just to protect against further falls?

And finally, is buy-to-let back? A stamp duty cut, low rates and a weaker property market has got property investors interested again but are they saving money now just to lose it in future?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the This Is Money podcast brought to you in partnership with Charles Stanley Direct, the award-winning investment platform trusted by the 40,000 clients' investment involves risk.
0:11.3	Hello everybody. I'm Georgie Frost in Spain with editor Simon Lambert and travel correspondent Grace Gorsden in London and we're all going on a summer holiday.
0:22.9	That's if you don't mind a 14-day quarantine on return and potentially invalidating your insurance. That's after the government's rather
0:27.1	sudden pulling up with the drawbridge to Spain. What does this mean for your trip? Are you covered?
0:32.1	What are your rights with work if you have to self-isolate? And what now for the future of the
0:36.3	travel industry more generally?
0:38.3	Also, today experts warn savers to switch to better rates after Barclay slashes its rate,
0:43.9	meaning no High Street bank now pays more than a quid on every £10,000.
0:50.7	Also, should you lock away your cash for five years?
0:53.9	And with slash-stamped duty, better mortgage deals and new tax benefits, should you buy to let? Don't forget you step today. With all the latest breaking money news, just go to this ismoney.com.uk
1:03.8	UK or download the app. But first, the proverbial hit the fan on Saturday night. I'm enjoying picture the scene, by the way, Simon and Grace. I'm enjoying a gin and tonic on a beach front bar, in a beach front bar. When the news broke that Spain was to be removed from the government's list of safe countries to travel to, my phone started ringing lots. It was the BBC wanting to interview me
1:29.3	about something I didn't know a huge amount at the time. But I did know it five hours later,
1:33.8	as it hundreds of thousands of Brits, who were in the country with me at the time. Not together.
1:39.0	We didn't go together, but we were all in there at the same time. But we have to come back to the
1:42.5	UK in five hours if we didn't want to self-isolate for 14 days.
1:46.8	Potentially losing income if you can't work from home.
1:49.7	So many now are left with their holiday plans in tatters, flights and trips away, cancelled,
1:55.8	wondering if you can get your cash back.
1:57.9	After a bit of dithering about as well, the Canary Islands and Baleerics are also no-go areas
2:03.6	that's according to the FCO.
2:05.1	So what will this do more generally for confidence in the travel industry and tourism across Europe?
2:10.8	As holidaymakers aren't just looking at their holidays in Spain, they're also counselling
	...

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