BRITS have been stuck in huge three hour queues in Spain in recent weeks due to new European entry rules, EES.
But new border rules are set to make it much easier for thousands of holidaymakers.
Whilst Spain hasn’t followed Greece which has temporarily lifted biometric checks , airports are set to help relieve the horrendous waits.
The Spanish airport authority AENA has instructed staff to assist the most vulnerable passengers including families with young children and people with disabilities.
According to reports in the Spanish press, they will allow anyone in these groups to go straight through to passport control if the wait for the new biometric machines is more than 25 minutes.
Brits have been reporting waits for hours because the queues are so long with hundreds of frustrated passengers in them.
Many have missed their flights because they could not check in on time, with suitcases unloaded and planes taking off without them.
Greece says it isn’t prepared to put up with the situation caused by the new European Union rules and has temporarily suspended biometric checks.
The airports of Palma in Majorca, Málaga, Alicante, Madrid and Barcelona have all confirmed their technology is working properly.
However, they also admit that the volume of passengers at busy times outweighed the capacity, often happening when a number of UK flights land at the same time.
Airport staff have been told to divert families and passengers with reduced mobility to the traditional passport stamping queues if they have to wait 25 minutes at biometrics.
They can also stagger flight arrivals in consultation with AENA’s flight arrival team.
The measures are being described as an adjustment not a suspension.
It’s not just Spain, as there are lots of other airports that have seen massive queues.
Schipol in Amsterdam as well as Faro and Lisbon in Portugal have all seen holidaymakers left stuck at security with a huge backlog of people.
The new travel rules require all non-EU nationals to register their biometrics instead of having their passport stamped at border control.
And our travel expert gave two of her top tips on how to avoid the EES chaos.