Greece ends lockdown measures and opens to tourists

Greece has launched its tourist season, lifting most remaining restrictions on movement and declaring "we are putting the lockdown behind us".

Although an average of 2,000 daily Covid cases are still being reported, vaccinations are being rolled out.

German tourists have begun flying in. From 17 May it will not be illegal for Britons to travel to "amber list" Greece, but they are advised not to.

Only for "green list" countries such as Portugal will rules ease significantly.

Greece still has several restrictions. However, the big changes are that residents no longer have to send text messages to a hotline whenever they leave their homes or go shopping, movement is allowed between regions, and a night-time curfew has now been limited to between 00:30 and 05:00.

A fifth of Greece's economy is seen as dependent on the tourism sector and 20% of workers are employed by it.

"We are opening our tourist industry to the world," Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis announced on Thursday evening in front of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion outside Athens.