Are you a non-resident, non-EU traveller planning on visiting Spain soon? Here are the airports where you may still find problems with the rollout of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System.
The EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) is now in place at numerous Spanish airports, but there are reports of it causing several issues at some arrival terminals, with long queues, delays and machines that are not working properly.
The EES system came into effect on October 12th 2025 and airports across the EU have until April 10th, 2026, to roll it out fully. Madrid was the first airport to implement it on October 12th, followed by other airports over the last two months.
The idea is to collect biometric data from non-resident, non-EU passengers by using special machines which take passengers’ fingerprints and photos, among other information.
While some airports in Spain seemed to roll it out seamlessly, it is still an issue at others.
Tenerife South
Tenerife South brought in the EES system on November 6th, but by the end of the month, they were still having teething problems. A video surfaced on November 21st showing chaos in the terminal, long queues and overcrowding. Since then, it seems like the situation has improved slightly, but travellers have still been complaining.
According to recently-arrived passengers on the Tenerife Residents and Visitors Facebook group, some people still had long queues, while other people said the process was very quick. The main problems seem to be when several flights come in at once and because all the machines are not being used.
“I was frustrated because only 6 of the dozens of machines were active to use” wrote one reader.
“The reality is mixed. Short periods of many flights and long periods of no delay whatsoever,” another wrote.
READ ALSO: Spain’s Palma airport implements EES border checks
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Málaga
Málaga Airport has also been having issues with the EES rollout. On November 28th, the PP Spanish opposition party claimed that the government’s inaction was leading to chaos at Málaga Airport. Mario Cortés, the national deputy for the PP of Málaga, said “The government has neither tackled the queues in the last month due to the new border control of the European Union nor taken the necessary expansion of the airport seriously, which just reached the historic milestone of 25 million passengers”.
“Complaints are mounting about passenger congestion due to the problems caused by the new European visa verification system,” he added. Cortés also anticipates even greater gridlock on “key dates in December”.
Again, there have been mixed responses from actual passengers though. On the Malaga Expats Facebook group one reader said “There was a VERY long queue and some very angry exchanges”, while another said “If you follow the new procedures, it is remarkably quick”.
Many resident Brits in the group though erroneously believed that they had to register with EES. Remember, if you have a TIE – foreign residency card for Spain, you are exempt from registering.
READ ALSO – EES: UK Embassy in Spain advises Brits not travel with expired TIE cards
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Alicante
Passengers arriving through Alicante airport seem to also be having similar issues with reports of hour-long queues.
The main problem there seems to be that many of the machines are not working properly are not registering fingerprints, so passengers are having to queue to see border control instead.
On the Costa Blanca South Chat Facebook page, one member wrote “most of the machines out of order and not registering fingerprints”, another agreed writing “Arrived last night and we were sent through the EES. Most don’t seem to be registering finger prints and still had to exit via usual passport reading machines further on, then get another manual stamp”.
Again it’s worth keeping in mind, however, that experiences have been very mixed here too and many people have reported no queues at all.
Some reports have been saying that the largest number of complaints have been during the weekends, specifically the early mornings and evenings of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so it’s worth leaving extra time if you’re arriving during those days.
READ ALSO – Q&A: What to know about the expansion of Spain’s Alicante airport
