FIVE passengers on a flight to Gibraltar were detained in Spain and sent back to the UK on Sunday after their plane was diverted due to bad weather.
The incident occurred when an EasyJet service from London Gatwick was unable to land on the Rock due to strong winds and was forced to divert to Malaga.
Upon arrival at the Costa del Sol airport, Spanish border authorities discovered that five of the people on board did not hold valid Schengen visas.
While these travellers held valid documentation to enter Gibraltar or the UK, they did not have the legal right to enter the European Union.
In a strict application of border laws, National Police officers refused to grant them temporary entry to transit to the Rock by road.
Instead of joining the other passengers on the bus transfer to La Linea, the group was kept at the airport and flown back to London.
The move marks a departure from the usual flexibility shown by Spanish authorities in these scenarios.
Historically, police have often granted temporary permission for ‘reasons of good neighbourliness’ to allow stranded passengers to reach their destination.
The new zero-tolerance approach contrasts sharply with a similar incident in January 2025, when Spanish police granted ‘exceptional entry’ to around 130 diverted British Airways passengers – including several Asian nationals without visas – to avoid chaos at a storm-hit Malaga airport.
On that occasion, officers waived the rules to allow the group to board buses to the Rock, sparking security concerns that some could slip away into the Schengen zone.
The deportation will serve as a stark warning to third country nationals flying to Gibraltar during the winter months that the soft touch is over.
Without a Schengen visa, the variable weather in the Strait of Gibraltar can technically leave them stranded as illegal entrants in Spain.
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