MADRID airport will this Sunday be the first place in Spain to use the new European biometric and automated border control system for non-EU citizens- known as the Entry-Exit System (EES).
The launch is somewhat low key involving just one early morning flight to the capital’s airport.
UK visitors coming to Spain will now have to be registered beforehand on the EES database.
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British nationals resident in Spain will not need to be registered so long as they have their TIE card with them.
By April, all airports will have booths where every non-EU resident entering or leaving the country must validate their passport- including their biometric data.
The system will also ensure that non-EU residents, including those from the UK, do not flout rules over maximum length of stays.
Chief Inspector, Juan Manuel Valle, from the Policia Nacional’s Central Border Unit said: “We will be more effective in the fight against illegal immigration and other crimes.”
He said that the EES network will allow any country to access traveller data including incidents or rejections at any border ‘in real time’.
“The database will be shared and will be under the supervision of the European institutions,” Manuel Valle added.
Implementation of EES will be completed by April 10 in all EU countries allowing the new automated system to eliminate traditional manual passport stamping within the Schengen Area.
It will be phased in at Spanish border crossings, firstly at airports, then at land borders, and finally at sea borders.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said that EES is intended to modernise border management to make travel ‘safer, smoother, and more efficient’ by reducing waiting times at passport control through the introduction of automated border booths.
The Ministry added that the ESS System will remain the exclusive responsibility of the National Police at all Spanish border crossings, while the Guardia Civil will retain its fiscal protection duties.
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