Brits and other fliers travelling through Malaga Airport this Semana Santa are being urged to pay attention to a new police campaign designed to cut queues and avoid confusion at passport control.
The Policia Nacional has launched a new audiovisual information drive at the airport, targeting both arrivals and departures as holiday travel ramps up.
The goal is simply to get passengers into the right queue first time, avoiding unnecessary delays.
It comes amid the rollout of the Entry/Exist System (EES), which will eventually replace all passport stamping with a biometric database that tracks every non-Schengen traveller who enters and leaves the EU.
Travellers register with the database using biometric machines at airports, but confusion over who uses them and which passport queues certain travellers join has caused confusion – even among airport staff.
The new police campaign, rolled out in collaboration with Aena, will appear on screens across the terminal from this weekend, offering clear, step-by-step guidance in English with subtitles.
Travellers are shown exactly where to go depending on their status – whether they are EU citizens or arriving from outside the bloc – helping to reduce bottlenecks at document control points.
It also includes specific guidance for families travelling with children, as well as passengers carrying different types of documentation such as residence permits, visas or passports.
Officials say the initiative is a first-of-its-kind pilot that could soon be expanded to airports across Spain if successful.
With passenger numbers surging over Easter, authorities are hoping the campaign will keep lines moving.
It comes after the initial rollout of the Entry/Exit System (EES) caused chaotic scenes in airports across Spain.
In the first few months, there was zero clarity on whether or not British residents of Spain with TIE cards should join the same queue as EU nationals.
After repeated demands from the Spanish Eye for clarity, the Spanish government eventually made it clear that British TIE holders must join EU nationals as they are also exempt from the EES.
However, to this day, some – although admitedly far fewer – border patrol workers in Spain continue to be unaware of this rule.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
