Travel restrictions to Curacao, Malta, Portugal and 13 other destinations relaxed
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed the travel advice for 15 countries from orange to yellow or green effective immediately. On May 19, travel advice for Bonaire will also change from orange to yellow. This means that travel to these places is no longer strongly discouraged.
“Traveling is possible, but be careful,” the ministry wrote in a statement. “In many of these countries, measures still apply for travelers from the Netherlands. You may even have to quarantine on arrival.”
Below is a list of all countries for which travel restrictions have been relaxed.
Travel advice changed to yellow for:
- Aruba
- Aegean Islands – with the exception of Crete
- The Balearic Islands – including Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera
- Bonaire – from May 19
- Canary Islands
- Curacao
- Finland
- Ireland
- Ionian Islands
- Malta
- Portugal – including Madeira and the Azores
- Rwanda
- St. Martin
- Thailand
Travel advice changed to green for:
- Saba
- St. Eustatius
Travelers to a country with the color code ‘yellow’ need to take into account that certain coronavirus measures, such as a curfew or a face mask mandate, may still apply at their destination.
"If a country is set to yellow, you can in principle go there on holiday, but you have to adhere to the rules of that country," Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, said during the press conference on Tuesday when the government announced that certain coronavirus measures will be relaxed on May 19.
Only for Saba and St. Eustatius has the travel advice been fully relaxed to green. This means that Covid-19 infection rates are very low in that area. Travelers returning to the Netherlands from a ‘green’ area do not have to present a negative Covid-19 test or go into quarantine.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that it does not mean that travelers do no run any risk in these countries or regions given that Covid-19 infection rates can quickly spike again.
It is also possible that countries with a green or yellow travel advice have their own entry restrictions for travelers from the Netherlands such a negative coronavirus test or a quarantine obligation.
Code orange still applies to the remaining European countries for the time being which means that traveling to these areas is strongly discouraged. Upon return to the Netherlands from a country or area marked ‘orange’, travelers are strongly advised to go into quarantine for ten days.
"We are cautiously optimistic about this, especially in Europe. More and more countries can become a safe holiday destination,” Health Minister, Hugo de Jonge said during the press conference on Tuesday.
As of May 15, there is no longer a negative travel advice regarding international travel. Travel restrictions apply based on the color code of each country or region.
Green represents no threat, yellow denotes some restrictions, and orange is for only urgent or necessary travel. People are told not to travel to a region marked as red under any circumstances.
