Parents who visit Spain at half-term ‘won’t be fined’ if kids need to quarantine

Parents who take their families to Spain for a half-term holiday will reportedly not be fined for their children missing school during quarantine.

Online learning has been arranged to cover it to ensure they follow the quarantine rules, it is claimed.

The holiday hotspot is currently on the amber list for travel, meaning people have to self-isolate for 10 days when they arrive back in England.

Spain has said British holidaymakers will be allowed to enter from Monday, May 24.

Brits are expected to flock to the country over half term, which starts on Friday, May 28.

But the Government and schools are said to be concerned the quarantine system will be ignored if fines are in place for parents who took their kids to an amber list country.

As a result, they are reluctant to pursue the fines, according to the i.

Heads of schools are also said to be concerned financial penalties could cause kids who have picked up coronavirus abroad to go into school.

Schools are likely to provide remote teaching to pupils while they self-isolate.

Under the Government’s rules, parents can be fined if their child is missing school “without a good reason”.

Parents have to get permission from headteachers for taking youngsters out of school during term time.

They can be hit with a £60 fine, which doubles to £120 if it is not paid within 21 days.

Thousands of revellers have already booked flights to Spain, as well as other amber list destinations including France, Greece and Italy.

Julie McCulloch, ASCL’s director of policy, told the newspaper: “The Government has been quite clear in its instructions that people travelling to countries on the Department of Transport amber list will need to quarantine for a period of 10 days after returning to England.

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“Tempting as it might be for parents to consider a half-term break in the sunshine, doing so in a country currently on the amber list could have severe implications for their school and college-age children.

“Having to quarantine for 10 days would almost certainly result in students missing part or all of the first week back at school or college after the half-term holiday and, depending when they arrive back, as much as a week and a half.”

England’s traffic light system splits up countries into green, amber and red depending on the Covid-19 risk.

People are only allowed to travel freely to green countries.