With the summer season around the corner, Greece was generally satisfied with the roadmap outlined by the European Commission on Wednesday regarding the resumption of tourism in the European Union, Ekathimerini reported.

“The Greek government welcomes the framework of guidelines and recommendations for tourism and transport presented by the European Commission,” government spokesman Stelios Petsas said in a statement, adding that the formation of a common European framework was not a given. Greece played a key role in shaping the proposals, as it was the first country to raise the issue of tourism in the European public debate.

The Greek government was particularly pleased that its position that there is no need to leave the middle seat empty on planes was adopted. According to the Greek proposals, vacant seats between passengers was initially a deterrent for the companies and therefore for the entire tourist product.

The Commission’s position that the lifting of travel restrictions to countries will initially apply to those with fewer coronavirus cases is also something that favours Greece.  However, Athens’ proposal for tests to be conducted on travelers within a period of 72 hours before boarding the plane was not included in the Commission’s recommendations. The basic logic is that one can test negative and then contract the virus, in which case the 72-hour test would not help.

The EC proposals are nonbinding, and most European governments are pursuing their own customized plans at different speeds.

Greece’s comprehensive plan for tourism will be made public next week and is expected to heed the Commission’s guidelines, even though each country maintains a degree of autonomy.

Meanwhile, as temperatures across Greece continued to climb past the 30-Celsius range, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection on Wednesday issued a series of guidelines that will allow Greece’s 515 privately or municipally run beach clubs to open to the public from Saturday. The Health Ministry’s special advisory committee on the coronavirus crisis recommended some restrictions to be respected as a cap of 40 people per 1,000 square meters of the facility’s area and a distance of at least 4 meters between sun umbrellas.

Catering facilities on the grounds of beach clubs can only offer takeaway service and are prohibited from delivering food and drinks to customers’ umbrellas, as well as from selling alcoholic beverages. The experts also “strongly recommend” that staff wear masks to cover their nose and mouth, though this is not mandatory.