Tenerife airport chaos strengthens case for Brits' e-gate access in Spain

Several UK tabloids recently reported how on May 26th hundreds of British holidaymakers faced "third-world”, “inhumane” and "cattle-like" conditions at Tenerife South Airport.

As four UK flights landed in quick succession, a bottleneck formed at passport control which meant passengers queued for more than two hours in stifling and overcrowded airport lounges.

Travellers complained that only two booths were manned for hundreds of British visitors, as well as speaking out about the “claustrophobic” conditions and no access to toilets.

The problems were reported to have been made worse by the fact that children were unable to use e-gates to check their passports.

Rosa Dávila, president of Tenerife’s Council, called an emergency meeting after the incident saying that chaos and long queues have become a common problem at the airport during peak tourist periods.

Dávila called the situation “unacceptable” and blamed Madrid for failing to provide sufficient immigration officers to the Canary island since Brexit.

“This is a structural issue,” she explained. We can’t continue to operate with the same staffing levels we had pre-Brexit”.

READ ALSO: What does UK-EU 'reset' deal really mean for Brits in Spain?

The incident strengthens the case for Britons to be able to use e-gates in Spain - without the need for a passport stamp - as soon as possible, in order to avoid repeats and potential crushes at passport control.

Spain is one of only a handful of EU countries already allowing limited e-gate access for UK citizens, but only at selected airports. Even then, they often still require a passport stamp, despite their passport also being processed automatically.

During the recent UK-EU 'reset' talks, the UK and the European Commission promised to "continue their exchanges on smooth border management for the benefit of their citizens, including the potential use of e-gates where appropriate".

They stated that "there will be no legal barriers to e-gates use for British nationals travelling to and from the European Union member states after the introduction of the European Union Entry/Exit System".

This means that it’s likely that UK citizens will not have access to e-gates until the introduction of the new EES (Entry/Exit System), which scheduled for later this year in October 2025.

"After that it's up to the member states. But this gives us the possibility, I'd say the probability, that people will be able to use the e-gates in future, which is not a possibility at the moment," Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told the BBC.

Unfortunately, this won't help the situation this summer when thousands of Brits will be descending on Spain for their annual holidays, with the potential to cause chaos at even more airports across the country, not just in Tenerife.

Spain has long been a favourite holiday destination for British tourists and the Spain-UK route is one of the busiest flight routes in the world. Spain received more than 17.5 million British holidaymakers during the first 11 months of 2024.

There are also over 400,000 UK nationals officially registered as living in Spain according to Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE) data from 2024.

Recent events at Tenerife South Airport highlight the recurring problems that come about since barriers were put in up between two countries linked together by more than 200 daily flights.

Even though granting British travellers access to all Spanish airports' e-gates seems like a feasible way to reduce these Brexit-fuelled holdups, there are fears that the implementation of the EES across the EU in October will also cause chaos before the system is running smoothly.

However, once EES is fully operational, and queues for passport stamps are no longer necessary, it's possible that scenes such as that at Tenerife South will be a thing of the past.