Airlines have asked the Spanish interior ministry to intervene and help speed up passport control at Palma’s Son San Joan airport. They are responding to a never-ending flood of complaints from passengers about the long queues they have to endure to get through passport control.
Spanish airports authority Aena yesterday recognised that there is a problem and said that non-Schengen passengers, the vast majority of whom are from the United Kingdom, are having to wait at least half an hour to get through passport control.
However, in reality, according to holidaymakers and residents who have contacted the Bulletin over the past few weeks, the wait can be much longer and the problem is doing little for Majorca’s image.
Aena said that it has increased the number of client support and care staff but the number of National Police officers on passport duty is not within its jurisdiction. This is why the airlines have turned to the interior ministry. It is responsible and can give the order that more officers are on duty and that passport control is speeded up. Majorca is now coming towards its very peak with school holidays in the UK.
The problem, apart from a lack of police, is that under European Union security laws, passports have to scanned. Passengers can no longer be waved through after simply wafting their opened passports at the official.
But it is not just the passport congestion that has been the target of complaints this summer. Most flights to and from the UK are handled by the old terminal A, and ‘terminal Briton’ is apparently in a mess compared to the rest of the airport, according to readers who have contacted the paper. It has broken facilities and a lack of services.
25 comments
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great paper
Our flight into Palma from belfast was 50 mins late upon arrival. We were then subject to a 2 hr delay getting through passport control resulting in us arriving at our hotel at 3.00am. I thought there was free movement of people in the EU - This is a disgrace in 2017!
We landed Palma airport on Saturday night at 9pm after a visit to the UK. The queue for passport control was huge and reached back into Terminal A - mainly due to the fact there was only one policeman machine checking passports and the much vaunted automated passport readers were switched off. It gives the impression that Madrid are actively punishing the Brits and not just in Gibraltar.
I know people who regularly take coach trips from the UK to Europe. They dream of only having a two hour delay at the tunnel.
There wouldn't be passport control on an internal flight, but carry a passport for ID purposes.
I am flying from Mallorca to MenorcaDoes anyone know if I have to go through passport control ie arrive at the airport hours early. Have tried to e mail the airport to find out but they do not seem to have an e mail addressthanks for your help max
Not only was there a 150 metre corridor-wide queue to get into Terminal A so we could leave, our flight never did appear on any airport screen and even when we got to the gate we thought it may be, we were Luton with easyJet and the Gate we had to use said Ryanair East Midlands. Some passengers never made it so we had to wait longer while their hold baggage was off-loaded. Chaos.
I hate to point out the obvious but given some of the unsavoury tourists we have had over the last couple of months, should we not be expediting their departure rather than have them stay longer? Maybe we should be more selective when they arrive!
I came for the weekend last week and waited so long at passport control I had to grab some food in the terminal and go straight home again!
I have been flying to Palma two to three times per year for the last 11 years and the longest I have had to wait is about 10 minutes. My passport is rarely scanned just a visual check. Much less time to wait than at London Gatwick North Terminal where the longest wait was 45 minutes.