The Spanish government has said British visitors will not need to undergo a 14-day quarantine when the country reopens its borders, and called on the UK government to show similar reciprocity. Travellers from the EU and Schengen area will be allowed back into Spain from Sunday as the country’s three-month state of emergency ends. Although the Madrid government had previously said it was considering a two-week quarantine for UK visitors in response to Britain’s decision to require all international arrivals to self-isolate for 14 days, it announced on Saturday evening that they would be “freely” welcomed back to Spain. “We will allow British visitors to enter Spain just like the rest of the European Union as from 21 June freely and without the need for a quarantine,” Spain’s foreign minister, Arancha González Laya, told BBC News. “We’re discussing with the UK authorities to see if they would do the same on their side. We nevertheless are doing this out of respect for the 400,000 British citizens that have a second residence in Spain and are dying to benefit from their homes in our country.” The foreign minister said she hoped the British authorities would also be “sensitive to the 250,000 Spaniards that are also living in the UK and would like to enter the UK without a quarantine”. Speaking this week, González Laya said the proposed quarantine had been floated because of the UK government’s own quarantine requirement. She said Madrid was keen to “properly engage in a dialogue with the UK authorities to make sure that we both take the message that best corresponds to the health situation, which today is a little bit better in Spain than it is in the UK”. Spain is seeking to reactivate its important tourism sector – which generates 12% of the country’s GDP – as soon as possible. From 1 July, visitors from so-called “third countries” – those outside the EU and the Schengen area – will be allowed back to Spain. Portugal will also open its land border with Spain on the same day. Until now, people visiting Spain from abroad have been obliged to undergo a 14-day quarantine, but the requirement lapses at midnight on Saturday when the state of emergency comes to an end. Instead, those arriving will have their temperatures taken at the airport, undergo a visual assessment, and will be asked to provide their contact details. Portugal’s ambassador to the UK has also said the nation wants to welcome British tourists again now the coronavirus alert level has been reduced. Manuel Lobo Antunes told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There was very good news for you, for us, for Europe that the alert system has come from four to three and that means a significant improvement in the control of the pandemic here in the UK. “We think that the situation is under control and we would be happy to receive, as before, as many British as possible.” The Foreign Office is still advising British nationals against all but essential international travel. And all passengers bar a handful of exemptions must still go into self-isolation for 14 days after arriving in the UK.