Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

Yes too late for me now but for those who are younger and travel a lot may be a good option.

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

Though the Spanish Interior Ministry said that residents MUST use the EES gates (posts 41 and 42), this has been contradicted by the police (link below):

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/art...g-airport-gate

Is this confusion due to them realising that they were not collecting correct 90/180 rule data for residents travelling in other EU countries?

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

I would take what the Express says with a pinch of salt. This is clearly explained and it was published on the Interior Ministry's website:

Residentes en España a 31 de diciembre

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

From your link:

... will be the only document that allows beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement to be exempt from having their time spent in the EEA counted ...

That implies that they are not even going to try to collect 90/180-rule data for residents travelling in other EU countries.
The original report that the Interior Ministry said that residents must go through the EES gates came from the Olive Press (Oct 2025 in post 41).
Is the Olive Press not a reliable source?

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

None of the Schengen states collects data for intra-Schengen travel. If you're going direct from one Schengen country to another, via any method of travel, you will not normally* go through any form of passport control, regardless of which country issued your passport.

That is the whole point of the open internal borders and it's completely intentional.

* There is provision, under some circumstances, for individual states to re-introduce checks at internal Schengen borders on a temporary basis but it has to have proper justification.

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

My concern was with residents being misdirected to EES gates when travelling from the UK.
Are residents going to disobey border officials doing this?
This is likely to cause ongoing problems for residents travelling to their country of residence via another EU country, as explained in post 60.

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

The first question you are asked by the EES machine is if you hold an EU residency card (not just a Spanish residency card), if you answer yes you are told to go to manual booth, not the EES gate.

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

True, though I assume flight manifests are still checked across police databases so all passengers are fully scrutinised, albeit for purposes other than simple visa/residency control which is only done during Schengen border entrance/exit.

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

Maybe not passport control as such but good luck in checking in with Ryanair for an internal Schengen flight with just a TIE!

For Brits exiting the UK EES could turn out to be a fun game, what happens if you answer 'no' to any of the questions?

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

But that is entirely unrelated to data collection or security checks with regard to the crossing of borders.

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

If you are a resident with a TIE flying into Spain does your UK passport still need to be valid for 3m after your next intended date of departure or is that just for "tourists?" :)

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

“If you have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, you do not need any extra months on your passport to enter or exit EU countries”

This is taken from https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-europe

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

Many thanks, I ended up moving after the cut-off date but I just noticed that I have one of those passports with a 10 years+ validity date so it's probably best to speed things up a bit and get a new passport early. :)

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

That's what my husband and I did in December, as both our passports had been issued with more than 10 years' validity and we didn't want to take a chance on either being denied boarding by an airline, or refused entry to Spain, even if those doing the refusal were technically in error.

Re: EES & ETIAS update and explanation
 

In the future, are there going to be two different types of electronic gates:
1 EES gates
2 Electronic gates for EU citizens and residents