British travellers heading to the Balearic Islands will face a staggered introduction to the new Entry-Exit System (EES), starting with Menorca tomorrow.
British Ambassador to Spain, Sir Alex Ellis, has revealed that the new system will start in Menorca on November 4, followed by Mallorca on November 19. No date has yet been set for Ibiza, which was visited by 3.27million tourists last year.
The new Entry-Exit scheme is currently being trialled in Madrid for a limited number of passengers. It is also being staggered across all the other Spanish airports.
Sir Alex said phasing in the new way of controls was a good idea because ‘we need to know how the world of this new technology is going to work’.
He said: ‘We’ve been talking to the Spanish authorities about how it’s going because there is a very big interest on the Spanish side that it’s made to work properly.
‘The UK provided some 18.4million visitors last year, so we’re talking to the various parts of the world which have a significant number of British visitors; the Balearics is one, the Canaries will be another.
‘In fact, the Spanish have been ready to go for a while, but it’s been delayed a couple of times. That’s not because of the Spanish, it’s been other countries which have not been ready.
‘Everyone is tightening up their border controls where they can across the world, including the UK. But everyone has an interest in ensuring that all border controls flow efficiently; I think it’s a very good decision to stagger it.’
British travellers heading to the Balearic Islands will face a staggered introduction to the new Entry-Exit scheme, starting with Menorca tomorrow
British Ambassador to Spain, Sir Alex Ellis, has revealed that the new system will start in Menorca on November 4. The town of Es Castell on the Menorca coast is pictured
In the interview, he told British holidaymakers: ‘Allow for a little bit more time at border control because the first time you come, you will have to register two bits of biometric information, fingerprints and a retina scan.
‘But once you are registered on the system, then it should be relatively simpler.’
According to the UK government, if you are travelling to a country in the Schengen area (including Spain) for a short stay using a UK passport, you will be required to register your biometric details, such as fingerprints and a photo, when you arrive.
You do not need to take any action before you arrive at the border and there is no cost for EES registration.
After it is fully implemented, EES registration will replace the current system of manually stamping passports when visitors arrive in the EU.
It comes after the new EU digital border controls expected to come into force in Dover over the weekend were ‘paused on the guidance of French authorities’.
The European Entry/Exit System – known as EES – was due to be extended on Saturday November 1 to car passengers after it was brought in for freight and coaches on October 13.
Eurostar also introduced the system, initially with business class customers, at the same time.
Queues at Berlin Airport. By April 2026, every EU destination is expected to have EES in place, meaning the stamping of manual passports will end(stock)
By April 2026, every EU destination is expected to have EES in place, meaning the stamping of manual passports will end. It was originally expected to be introduced on a six-month phased rollout unless there are significant delays to the process.
EES applies to non-EU passengers including the UK travelling to countries within the EU Schengen zone – a group of 29 European countries – including France, Germany, Greece and Spain – who have a borderless zone between them.
But officials at Dover told the BBC that ‘they are being guided by the French authorities on when to start’ and that a ‘slow rollout’ was expected.
Passengers have been warned that the new biometric tests – which at Dover mean that they have to leave their cars and have their fingerprints and photo taken – could delay their journeys by hours.
