Alex Trelinski
BRITISH travellers heading to Spain will have to continue to put up with passport control queues this summer.
That’s despite an e-gate announcement this week as part of the new UK-EU agreement made in London.
UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the ‘partnership helps British holidaymakers, who will be able to use e-gates when they travel to Europe’.
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But as previously reported by the Olive Press, using e-gates will not start before October when the new EU entry/exit system known as EES comes into operation- and even that might be delayed yet again.
EES will gather biometric data on citizens arriving in the EU from non-member, third-party countries like the UK.
The EU Commission confirmed the e-gates delay to the BBC and after EES starts, it will still be up individual countries to decide what should happen.
“Once the EES is in place, UK nationals will therefore be able to use e-gates where they are available, provided they are registered in the system,” a commission spokesperson said.
The registration will also involve paying a fee- previously announced as €7.
Neighbouring Portugal at the moment allows e-gate usage but passports still have to be stamped due to 180 day a year visiting restrictions.
The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said it is clear the deal ‘won’t impact this summer” and it would also rely on confirmation from EU member states when ‘wet stamping’ of passports would end.
Spain has so far enjoyed record foreign tourist numbers this year, with the UK the largest market.
There are concerns that with more flights being put on during the summer into tourist airports like Alicante-Elche and Malaga, there is the potential for long delays at passport control.
