Spain to open land borders with Portugal, France from June 22

Spain played down the possibility of reopening its land borders on June 22 after a government minister announced earlier on Thursday it would do so, prompting confusion in neighbouring Portugal, which asked for clarification. Frontiers with France and Portugal have been shut to most people since Spain went into lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus in mid-March, faced with what was then one of the world's worst outbreaks of the virus. A government source said Madrid was still considering the plan to reopen land borders and would discuss it with France and Portugal, rowing back on remarks by Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto earlier in the day.