* Hotel association brands UK move "totally illogical"
* Urges system of reciprocal testing instead
* Some Spanish regions have lower infection rate than UK
(Adds new coronavirus data, quotes)
By Emma Pinedo and Nathan Allen
MADRID, July 27 (Reuters) - Spain's hard-hit hotels offered
on Monday to pay for foreign tourists to take coronavirus tests,
in an effort to lure back visitors worried by a fresh wave of
cases and put off by Britain's sudden imposition of a two-week
quarantine.
Britain on Saturday shocked hoteliers and holidaymakers with
an unexpected 14-day quarantine on people returning from Spain,
in a major blow to a tourist season already hanging on by a
thread.
"Not only is it unjust but it's also totally illogical and
lacking in rigour," Spain's main hotel association CEHAT said of
the quarantine.
Instead, the association proposed a system of reciprocal
testing across Europe and said its members would cover the cost
for tourists coming to Spain.
Since ending its nationwide lockdown a month ago, Spain has
been grappling with a rapid proliferation of new cases.
The health ministry reported 6,361 new cases over the
weekend and said it was monitoring 361 clusters around the
country.
With most new infections concentrated in Catalonia and
Aragon and with several other regions having a lower infection
ratio than Britain, the blanket quarantine has been criticised
as disproportionate and impulsive.
"How is it that we find ourselves on the brink of the
apocalypse in just 12 hours?" asked Jose Luis Zoreda,
vice-president of the Exceltur tourism association, adding that
the move could do lasting damage to Spain's image.
Britain's The Sun newspaper said London was considering an
exemption for Spain's Balearic and Canary islands, where
infection rates are very low, after lobbying by the Madrid
government.
"We hope it will be today rather than tomorrow," Tourism
Minister Reyes Maroto said.
'A BADLY MANAGED OVERREACTION'
While Catalan leader Quim Torra warned that more
restrictions could be needed if the local outbreak continued to
expand, other regions such as Andalusia and Valencia felt
unfairly penalised.
"Our epidemiological data are better than the UK's,"
Valencian regional leader Ximo Puig told Cadena Ser radio. "I
don't understand why you would make a decision like this with
such a broad brushstroke."
Puig's counterpart in the Canary Islands, Angel Victor
Torres, said the shock to the local tourism sector could be
irreversible if Britons stopped coming.
Tour operators, airlines and hotel groups, already
struggling after the pandemic brought global air travel to a
virtual standstill, also hit back at the measure.
Budget carrier Ryanair's Chief Executive Michael
O'Leary derided the UK move as a "badly managed overreaction,"
while rival Jet2.com cancelled flights to four Spanish
destinations.
Melia Hotels and NH hotels shares closed
6.4% and 4.3% respectively on Monday, while British Airways
parent IAG dropped 5.9%.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo
Additional reporting by Inti Landauro, Belén Carreño, Paola
Luelmo and Conor Humphries
Writing by Nathan Allen
Editing by Ingrid Melander and Gareth Jones)
International Airlines (IAG)
