French people who want to travel to Spain or Portugal should get vaccinated -minister

French people who want to travel to Spain and Portugal should get vaccinated first, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday, clarifying a government call not to travel to the two countries issued the prior day.

French people who want to travel to Spain and Portugal should get vaccinated first, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday, clarifying a government call not to travel to the two countries issued the prior day. "There is no tourism protectionism from France, there is a will to ensure health standards - tourism is fundamental for both our countries," Le Drian told a news conference in Madrid. "We all want to go on holidays but health protection is fundamental and that's why we must get vaccinated."

Le Drian's junior minister Clement Beaune had told the French on Thursday to avoid travelling to the two Iberian countries where the number of COVID-19 cases is rising fast. Those comments angered the Spanish tourism industry which has been counting on the summer season to recover from the pandemic's disastrous economic impact.

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