Augusto Santos Silva, the country’s Minister of Overseas Affairs, said Portugal was “incredibly upset” to have been excluded from a list of countries from which tourists will be exempt from expending two weeks in isolation just after arriving in England.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Friday, Santos Silva stated: “We are pretty let down with this selection of the British authorities. We believe it truly is senseless and unfair. It truly is rather absurd.

“The United Kingdom has seven situations more circumstances associated to Covid-19 than Portugal, so we imagine this is not the way in which allies and friends are addressed,” he included.

While he acknowledged that Portugal has experienced some “unique outbreaks” of Covid-19 in Lisbon, the minister pressured that destinations popular with British travellers — this sort of as the Algarve — have been not coronavirus hotspots.

António Costa, the Primary Minister of Portugal, also mentioned the Algarve was a safe spot to expend a vacation this summer time.

According to British isles federal government information, all over 2.5 million Britons traveled to Portugal final 12 months.

CNN’s Isabela Tejera and Milena Veselinovic contributed reporting.