queues

MAJOR airports in Spain are introducing Brit-only border control to avoid travel chaos this summer.

New EES requirements have resulted in large queues at airports for British holidaymakers.

According to local media, the Spanish operator Aena has revealed that four airports will adapt their security and border control for Brits.

These airports are in Ibiza, Menorca, Malaga and Palma, Majorca.

It’s set to be put in place to ease the queues caused by new EES rules.

These will have a single access point to non-Schengen boarding zones to be used only by UK and non-EU passengers.

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There’s concern that the new EES requirement is causing delays in airports and will only grow during peak travel times, like the summer holidays.

Officials have expressed their worry that queues could be up to four hours or more.

The changes form part of Aena’s huge investment plan to its airports set to take place between 2027-2031.

These airports will use the investment ‘redesign control areas to improve passenger flow’.

They will allocate 29 per cent more space for passengers to ‘ensure smoother processing and better service quality’.

Malaga Airport could receive €1.5billion (£1.3billion) which could see it double the size of the terminal and increase capacity to handle 36million passengers each year.

Palma Airport (called Son Sant Joan) could receive €621.6million (just over £544million) for upgrades.

The investment is set to go towards the airport’s platforms, runway and taxiway pavements, taxiways, and renovation of boarding bridges.

In the case of Ibiza, the investment is set to be €229.7million (£201million), and in Menorca, the investment will reach €170.7million (£149million).

It will also include the adaptation to border control regulations to improve its efficiency.

At all four of the upgrade plans at these airports include allocated areas for Brits and non-EU passengers.

In order to fund the investment, Aena has proposed an average annual increasing its fees for airlines.

This hasn’t been well-received by the likes of Ryanair which has planned to axe over a million seats to certain Spanish routes, with some being cut down or cancelled completely.

Here’s more on the Spanish city which is getting MORE Ryanair flights after budget airline scrapped millions of seats.

And here are the cheapest destinations to fly to from six major UK airports including Spanish resorts to Greek islands.

HEADING to the airport this summer? Getting through border control could take hours longer than usual.

Airlines have warned that holidaymakers could face delays of up to four hours at European airports during peak months due to EES registration.

The Entry/Exit system for Brits heading abroad was first introduced in October 2025.

Non-EU travellers must use the new machines which record biometric data like fingerprints and photographs to track entries, exits in the Schengen area.

But these new rules have already caused delays for Brits and officials have warned there will be more to come.

Late last year, disgruntled Brits heading on holiday reported two hour delays at arrivals in Lanzarote.

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There were also three hour queues in Lisbon and even longer in Prague back in December.

Airports Council International, Airlines for Europe and Iata, the airline trade body, have warned about further delays during the summer.

They said there are already “persistent excessive waiting times of up to two hours at airport border control.”

They added: “Failing immediate action to provide sufficient flexibility, severe disruptions over the peak summer months are a real prospect, with queues potentially reaching four hours or more.”

Olivier Jankovec, the director general of ACI, added that “non-EU travellers are experiencing massive delays and inconvenience. This must come to an end immediately.”

At the moment, there are no plans to delay the EES rollout, as it’s set to complete in April 2026.

With the number of travellers likely to increase over the summer period – delays are also predicted to increase.

ACI has said that the capturing of biometric data entering the Schengen area has resulted in border control processing times at airports increasing by up to 70 per cent.

Factors in the delays include the unavailability of self-service kiosks.

As well as the unavailability of Automated Border Control (ABC) gates for EES processing, and the unavailability of an effective pre-registration app.

At the moment, 35 per cent of arrivals are required to go through digital registration.

For more on EES checks, here’s everything you need to know about them from a travel expert.

And one major airline introduces strict new luggage rules with £125 fines for rulebreakers.

Visitors to the sunny island of Tenerife have shared their experiences of the airport amid claims of three-hour queues, and while some have breezed through, others have found themselves facing long delays to the start of their holidays

Brits visiting the popular holiday island of Tenerife have reported ‘horrendous’ and long queues and issues getting through the airport, both when arriving and departing.

Unhappy holidaymakers have told the Mirror that they’ve been stuck in the automatic doors and made to queue outside on the tarmac, with elderly passengers kept waiting for two hours.

The issues partly stem from the newly introduced Entry/Exit System (EES), which Brits have had to use when travelling into EU countries since October 12, 2025. It seems to have led to long waits for passengers on the Spanish island. Local news outlet Canarian Weekly reports that only five of the 36 new eGates are in use in Tenerife South Airport.

When contacted about the issue, airport operator AENA stated that border control is the responsibility of Policía Nacional. The spokesperson said: “The European Commission determined that the Entry Exit System starts on October 12. Its implementation will be gradual over a period of 180 days, until April 10, when its deployment will be fully completed.”

Recent holidaymakers to Tenerife have had mixed experiences using the airport. Anne Ramsey, a frequent visitor to the island, said that when her party arrived on December 19 on an early morning flight from Glasgow Prestwick Airport, “we went straight through”.

However, a few weeks later on January 23, Anne arrived on a plane from Manchester and described the queues as ‘horrendous’. “They had to keep us on the transfer bus as the queue into the terminal was queuing outside, and there was nowhere for anyone else to go.”, she said.

Annie revealed the chaos outside the airport, saying: “People were getting stuck in the glass doors entering the terminal as they kept opening and shutting them in an attempt to control the passenger numbers.”

During this trip, Annie was accompanied by her 90-year-old mother, and said they “queued for nearly two hours.” At this point, it was term time, so the family lanes designed for groups with children under 12 were less busy, but Annie claims there was “no attempt to move people from the longer queue to the shorter one.”

She also faced technical difficulties, with eGates crashing, meaning passengers needed to wait until they were up and running again. However, her sister, who had arrived on the same date just two hours later, faced no queues.

Larry Hicken, a member of the popular Facebook group Tenerife Holiday Forum, shared two images showing long queues upon arrival at the airport. He said he landed at 4pm on January 26, but it wasn’t until 6.10pm he made it through border control.

However, a few people said they’d had positive experiences at the airport. Pip Jane Tolliss said she flew out on December 10, 2025, and had a smooth experience on arrival. Her fingerprints weren’t taken, but a photo was, and she got through in 10 minutes.

On the way back on January 3, she said it was busier, but “security moved quickly. Went through gate C and no machines just a small queue moving very quickly as just stamping passport.”

Pip admits that experiences at the airport can vary. “Having spoken to many people during our stay, it seems the experience can be very different from day to day. We were lucky, I guess!”

Representatives of the Policía Nacional España have been contacted for comment.

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