Since the roll out of the new entry/exit system - known as the EES - an automated digital border system for non-EU nationals, including UK citizens, entering the Schengen Area - in October last year across Spain, starting in Madrid and then Palma in November - it has not been a smooth process and there are fears that unless swift action is taken, the EES could cause chaos over Easter with passengers yet again being advised to continue allowing extra time at airports because of teething problems with the new system.
And if that is not enough to worry about, Ryanair has sounded the alarm over a potential summer of flight chaos, telling UK travel buyers to brace for widespread cancellations if European air-traffic-control (ATC) strikes proceed as planned.
Earlier this month, the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT) has called on the Ministry of the Interior to urgently reinforce police personnel and ensure that control systems are fully operational at Spain’s main international airports. According to the association, long queues and prolonged waiting times at passport control have become ‘a structural problem that seriously damages the traveller’s experience and Spain’s image as a top tourist destination in a highly competitive environment’.
This situation, which has already been repeatedly denounced by hotel associations in different regions, particularly affects airports with a high volume of international passengers. At these facilities, the massive arrival of non-EU travellers – especially from the United Kingdom following Brexit – causes recurring bottlenecks at border controls, slowing down the flow of people entering the country.
And, there continues to be plenty of confusion with many British travellers who have a TIE card and are resident in Spain, having passports stamped, which is not supposed to happen. The British Embassy in Spain has said that during the initial six months of EES your passport may be stamped on entry and exit, but this will not affect your rights in the EU country or countries where you live or work.
The Foreign Office states: “To be exempt from registering with the EU’s Entry Exit System (EES), British residents in the EU will be required to show a uniform-format biometric card which is listed as a residency document under the Withdrawal Agreement. For residents of Spain, that card is the Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE).”