Britons travelling to for a vacation this summer season might face “missed connections” or “countless queues” at passport border management. The difficulty was raised by Javier Gandara, the president of the Spanish affiliation of airways, ALA.
Gandara mentioned: “The picture of countless queues or missed connections is the very last thing we want.”
He raised the alarm following a weekend of lengthy queues at passport management at Madrid airport.
The ALA mentioned the chaotic scenes have been prone to be repeated at vacationer hotspots akin to Alicante, Malaga and the Canary Islands.
Gandara demanded Spain’s Ministry of the Inside take motion so the “needed sources can be found in all Spanish airports to deal with the inflow of vacationers” at first of the summer season.
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He blamed the queues on an absence of border workers to course of vacationers at passport management in the course of the summer season months.
Gandara mentioned 1,000 vacationers have been affected in Madrid this weekend on connecting flights whereas 4,500 had been impacted all through March.
Some vacationers catching intercontinental flights have struggled to catch their stopovers on time because of the lengthy queues.
Gandara mentioned “not lengthy from now” an enormous inflow of British vacationers are anticipated to reach which might create a “attainable drawback” at vacationer hotspots.
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Greater than 80 % of worldwide vacationers journey to Spain by air and Gandara expressed the queues would give a foul impression of the nation.
The airport operator AENA had mentioned that border drive shouldn't be its duty and mentioned it's as much as the Ministry of the Inside to resolve the issue.
Because the UK left the EU, British vacationers must have their passport stamped each time they enter and depart Spain.
Because of this queues may very well be longer than earlier than because it takes extra time to course of Britons.
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Final summer season, British vacationers confronted lengthy queues at a number of main Spanish airports in the course of the peak vacation season.
British vacationers can keep in Spain for a complete of 90 days out of each 180 while not having a visa.
They might want to get their passport stamped once they enter and depart the nation to show they didn’t overstay.
If vacationers do overstay the 90 day interval, they might face fines, deportation or perhaps a ban from getting into Spain.
Nevertheless, passport stamps could quickly be a factor of the previous because the EU is about to introduce a brand new digital system.
The ETIAS will function electronically and management the entry of non-EU residents akin to Britons to the bloc.
Britons must pay a payment each three years to have an ETIAS which they might want to vacation within the EU, together with Spain.
The launch of ETIAS was not too long ago delayed and is now anticipated to start out in some unspecified time in the future in 2024.
Further reporting by Rita Sobot