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A POLICIA Nacional border guard admitted to the Olive Press they have been very a lot ‘in a trial stage’ at Malaga airport with their Entry/Exit System (EES) digital passport machines this week.
It comes as some British vacationers compelled into the brand new system discovered their chip and pin paperwork working whereas others didn’t.
To complicate issues additional, border guards insisted that any UK passport holders WITH Spanish residency couldn’t use EES machines in any respect.
READ MORE: EXPLAINER: Which queue ought to British residents with a TIE card be part of to enter Spain now that the EES is right here?
“You’ll have to proceed with the queue,” a policeman informed the Olive Press as we speak at Malaga airports’ B Terminal. “It gained’t work when you dwell in Spain and have a TIE.”
He added: “It’s your fault for Brexit.”
Perplexingly, it got here after one among his colleagues had informed this newspaper that we ‘may use’ the scanning machine to proceed to the boarding gate.
“However that’s solely until 1pm,” she mentioned. “We’re solely trialing it for three-hour durations at a time.”
And when cross-checked on the border kiosk, none of three policemen may clarify why our resident journalist’s UK passport wouldn’t work.
READ MORE: Listed here are the beginning dates for the EES border system at key Spanish airports fashionable with British vacationers – travellers to Malaga beware
Even odder was the necessity for British vacationers to register at an earlier machine in a financial institution of 12 up towards one wall of the terminal.
And as soon as they’d checked in with a face scan they wanted to go to the second digital gate.
“It was the very same course of on the second machine…However whereas my passport labored, my husband’s didn’t,” defined Anne, 67, from Glasgow, in Scotland.
“And the unusual factor is he has a brand new black one whereas mine is the older burgundy one.”
READ MORE: EXPLAINER: Right here’s how the brand new EES border system will work for Brits coming into Spain and different EU nations from subsequent month
She continued: “Even stranger was that each labored tremendous in Mallorca final week and in addition in Faro, in Portugal.”
It comes after EES border management machines have sat dormant at Malaga airport for over a yr.
It has meant that lengthy queues – typically taking half-hour – have constructed up typically all the way in which to Obligation Free.
Confusion has reigned at Malaga airport because the EES got here into impact on October 20.
British residents in Spain have been particularly affected, with many expats reporting being uncertain whether or not to hitch the EU lane – as authorized residents of Spain – or the non-EU queue, which is now managed by the biometric kiosks.
The Olive Press requested Spain’s Inside Ministry to make clear the rule.
READ MORE: Spain to spend €13bn on mega airport upgrades – as Ryanair slams ‘rip-off’ charges
Officers informed us that British passport holders with a TIE residency card should use the queue for the EES system, which means they need to be part of the non-EU or ‘third-country nationals’ queue when arriving in or leaving Spain.
Nonetheless, the ministry insisted that, with a sound Spanish residence card (TIE), they won’t be handled as vacationers and gained’t be topic to the 90-day keep restrict that applies to non-residents.
In follow, this could imply travellers ought to current each their passport and TIE when passing by means of border management as regular – hitches and glitches however.
The Inside Ministry’s clarification comes as Spain progressively introduces the EES at its main airports, beginning with Madrid first after which adopted by Malaga.
Alicante and Barcelona adopted on October 27.
Click on right here to learn extra Malaga Information from The Olive Press.
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