The new Entry/ Exit System (EES) will be rolled out gradually throughout Spain and visitors arriving on Lanzarote this weekend will not be scanned. The exact date for the scheme’s introduction on Lanzarote has not yet been announced.
EES will come into effect throughout Europe on Sunday 12th October, but airports have until next April to get it up and running. Spain’s Ministry of the interior has announced that on Sunday, the system will only be applied to one flight arriving at Madrid’s Barajas Airport.
This reflects a careful approach, allowing airports to assess potential delays and problems before bringing the scheme into full operation.
Lanzarote’s César Manrique Airport has 26 manual checkpoints, 72 automated devices, and 48 Automatic Border Control (ABC) booths. For several months, arrivals at the airport’s Terminal 1 have seen rows of the machines waiting to be installed.
The new system will require all visitors to the Schengen Area from non-EU countries, including British nationals, to scan the four fingerprints of their right hand and submit to a facial biometric scan. The resulting data will be stored on a central database.
However, at first, arrivals will also have to pass through e-Gates and have their passports stamped as usual.
The introduction of the EES has also led to articles in the British press repeating scare stories about the requirement for a letter of introduction for families and friends staying with residents. While technically accurate, this law has nothing to do with the EES and has never been enforced on British visitors to Spain. Nothing has changed since we published this article last year.
https://gazettelife.com/news/do-british-tourists-need-a-letter-of-invitation/
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