Police chiefs and unions have reached agreement for increasing the number of officers at Palma airport. The additional officers are being drafted in to deal with the long queues that can form at passport control.
Maria Salom, the national government's delegate, visited the airport on Thursday. It is said that this visit has led to the agreement. The queues, caused by vast numbers of British passengers, tend to be at their worst in the morning and early afternoon.
Initially, officers will be transferred. More officers will be brought in shortly. The police unions say that this will mean that in the near future there won't be the queues that there have been recently. The passport control operation will be speeded up, though the unions add that some queuing is inevitable, given the number of flights to and from the UK that are scheduled around the same time.
The transport federation has also spoken to Salom about the queues, which affect coach operations.
While it is being said that Salom's visit has brought about the agreement, unions had complained that when she visited, there were instructions for more officers to be deployed at passport control. They also claim that there have been orders to be more "flexible" in speeding things up, implying that proper passport checks haven't always been made.
Meanwhile, the number of boarding pass scanners at the airport has been increased to twenty. In addition, the roller belts for scanning hand luggage have been lengthened and the whole area leading to the scanners and security has been increased. The airports authority Aena says that these developments will make the process quicker and more convenient.
8 comments
Arrived at Palma from Birmingham at 0900 on the 16th July walked straight through ? Left Palma yesterday slight hold up due to police talking to each other rather than looking at passports !
Hi David. Thanks for your response. Arrivals was fine on Thurs 6th July at approx 9.30pm. My return flight to Stansted on Sun 9th was due to depart at 5.35pm. I was in a queue for over an hour from 4.15pm. We are due to arrive in Palma at 5.00pm this Tues and depart on Fri 4th Aug on the 5.35pm Stansted flight again!
Many other stunning locations in the world and Europe. I suggest we all go elsewhere. Mallorca always becomes too arrogant when times are good .... they will be nice again when the next recession arrives.
Delays have a lot to do with timing. I travel through almost weekly on the London City services through the whole summer to date (arriving around 1820 on a Friday, leaving 1950 on sunday) and have never spent more than 10 mins in the queue. If people could post the days of week and times of day they have experienced delays it would be helpful.
Can anyone tell me if the situation has improved at passport control for flights OUT of Palma yet? I experienced the nightmare myself on Sun 9th July where it took an hour to get through the booths (only 3 officers checking passports for over 500 people!) The only reason I didn't miss my flight was because it was delayed, luckily! I'm returning with my family next week for a 10 day holiday and am dreading the chaos for our flight home with 2 children!! We can't check our luggage in until 2hrs before flight departs as desks generally don't open until then, but I know 2hrs might not be enough time to get through to our gate!! If anyone is travelling OUT of Palma in the next few days PLEASE put a message on here advising how long it's taking. Can't seem to find any recent news on how long it's taking. Thanks in advance!
Firstly I love the island it means a lot to me. I understand the crowds annoy the residents, and Leaving the EU has annoyed some. However I can see tourists deserting Mallorca and I think the way the tourists are being treated deserves this. In 2013 the cry was we want more visitors. Now visitors are arriving they are being treated in a shoddy way. We visit, spend loads of our money and we are being resented and poorly treated. I live in a tourist area in the UK, we have loads of visitors here and it makes travel slower and some inconveniences but it helps the businesses to survive. Rant over.
All this carry on is nonsense purely aimed at pissing the British off. Last week I travelled back and there was only one officer on duty and the queue was huge. Are they honestly trying to say they need more staff as an excuse? I've been travelling back and forward to the island for many years and never seen just one on duty. They are going on like they need an army of border staff. No this is more about sour grapes than logistics.
Let's hope it's not a case of too little, too late. The number of comments heard and read, of people looking elsewhere for their next vacation should cause the authorities serious concern. This plus the expected tourist tax increase, the unacceptable situations in Magalluf and Playa de Palma, the fiasco over holiday letting and the excessive rise in hotel rates for next year are all impacting on people's perspective of Mallorca.