The European Union has been slammed by airlines and travel associations in Spain over its new digital Entry/Exit System (EES), leaving thousands of Brits facing travel chaos. Since the system’s rollout in October, ahead of the full enforcement of the scheme from April 10, holidaymakers have been stuck in queues of up to three hours, a system Spanish hoteliers have warned could damage the country’s reputation.

Now, airlines including Ryanair and the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) have written to the bloc calling for better controls and more staff ahead of the busy half-term and Easter travel seasons. The deputy spokesperson of the far-right Vox party in the Council of Majorca, David Gil, has described a situation of “chaos and saturation,” especially “those from outside the Schengen area, due to the lack of foresight on the part of the General State Administration”. The current situation has also been described as a “sieve” that makes it difficult to detect the entry of illegal immigrants, the party spokesperson said.

This comes as Brits and other third-party nationals entering the Schengen Zone this summer may still be asked to go through manual passport stamping – the very system that the EES is designed to replace.

This is because the EU Commission has granted member states “certain flexibilities” to help ease potential congestion during peak traffic periods, a spokesperson confirmed on Friday (February 6). The executive branch of the EU confirmed that its members can “partially suspend the new Entry/Exit System (EES)” for up to 90 days after the April 10 deadline, with a possible 60-day extension to cover the July-September peak period.

The EES replaces passport stamping for all third-country nationals entering or leaving the Schengen area. Travellers must enrol their fingerprints and a facial image at a kiosk the first time they cross an external border. On subsequent trips, the data is checked automatically. From April 10, member states are required to implement EES technology at all border crossings and to register all third-party nationals entering the country.

“Rolling out such a large-scale system is a complex task,” EU Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert said at a press briefing on January 30. “By extending the flexibility for the summer period, we give Member States the tools necessary to manage potential problems and, most importantly, avoid summer travel chaos.”

Mr Gil announced on Saturday (February 7) that the Vox party will present a motion at the next plenary session of the Council of Majorca to demand that the government reinforce the police force responsible for passport controls at Palma Airport. For the Vox spokesperson, the collapse of border controls is not a one-off event, “but a sign of the inaction and lack of responsibility of the Sánchez government”.

“Mallorca lives off tourism. We cannot allow the first impression of those who visit us to be endless queues and inefficient service,” he warned.