Portugal reopens borders to US travelers from today

Portugal is the latest European country to reopen its borders US travelers this summer.

The US Embassy in Portugal advises that from today (June 15), non-essential travel from the US to mainland Portugal is permitted for travelers with proof of a negative COVID-19 test result.

Visitors are required to submit a negative COVID PCR result from a test taken no more than 72 hours before traveling, or a rapid antigen test performed within 24 hours of boarding. Children under the age of two are exempt. You can find out more about testing requirements here.

Economy Minister Pedro Siza Viera suggested last week that vaccinated travelers from the US could potentially visit Portugal, provided they show proof of vaccination. However, in this latest travel update, test exemptions for vaccinated travelers have not been set. The rules will be reviewed in two weeks' time on June 27.

Read more: Best time to visit Portugal

As Portugal opens to American tourists, the UK recently reintroduced quarantine restrictions on travelers returning from Portugal, which Reuters reports, will be a big blow to the country's tourism sector as Britain is one of Portugal's largest foreign tourism markets.

Lifting restrictions for Americans will be a last-ditch attempt by the country to avoid another catastrophic blow to the country's GDP. According to Reuters, 1.2 million tourists from the US visited Portugal in 2019. That number dipped to 135,229 in 2020.

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