There will have to be a manual check route for Spanish/EU citizens to use as automatic gates are for 18 and above in Spain and there will also have to be a way for disabled people to go through border control.

I assume it will be most expedient for residents to use the same route as the manual check for Spanish/EU citizens.

Now that I've said that, none of have a crystal ball and it will probably vary depending on airport as it does now.

I think so too, otherwise why would they bother making the distinction that legal residents are exempt from the new system - which automatically places residents on the same footing as Spanish nationals and EU citizens when it comes to Border Control, does it not?

It probably will vary depending on the airport - it should not as rules like this should be crystal clear and applied with consistency, but why change the habit of a lifetime?

I would guess as always that depends on the airport and individual official one deals with. All I am saying is that it would seem at Málaga a resident with TIE and UK passport can use the EU lane. I haven't tried it my self as yet but will when we fly back to UK in a few weeks . If told I can't use that lane then I will revert to standard UK lane. The regulations are one thing the official you deal with another.

On the link scroll to sect 5 re entry and exit rules

Well isn't this the problem - if there is no specific regulations that says TIE holders can use EU channels then that means you can't and have to use the one everyone else uses. So unless someone can point to a specific rule that says UK nats with TIE can enter through EU channels then we can't do it. Otherwise we are just going to hear the usual apocryphal stories that prove nothing.
sect 5 - says nothing about this- it is just about visas etc

Yes it will be difficult to get a definite answer I would guess. It seems to be not specifically defined all one can do is see what they say as in your account when you went through with your son. I would never get involved arguing with a border official, if they say no go to that queue then that's what I would do.

Assuming UK passport holder with TIE (Spain) under withdrawal agreement:

Your passport will be auto or manually scanned on entry & exit in Spain. However I'm not sure what they do with this information.
Your passport will not be stamped if you present your TIE (withdrawal agreetment).

However, if you are a temporary TIE holder under the new NLV then your passport will be stamped. This information is to show that you have been in Spain for the requiste amount of time in order to successfully apply for years 2&3 and 4&5. After 5 years your passport will no longer be stamped.

It will be interesting to see if they stamp the passport of those with standard Temporary TIE. Last time we flew back they didn't stamp them out or in . We go back to UK in a couple of weeks so will see what they do.

If you mean a temporary TIE under the withdrawal agreement (standard?) then no, they will not stamp your passport. I have to assume from this that they are not looking at how long you've spent in Spain when you apply for your permanent TIE .
However, I understand that they will stamp UK passports of anyone with a TIE that wasn't issued under the withdrawal agreement. This would suggest that the time in Spain is more actively monitored for the NLV.

Not sure I understand all of this, however - been here 20 years as a legal resident so have a 10-year TIE now. Passport stamped each way.

I think it is no more than who you see on the day.

Yes sorry that's what I meant temporary under the withdrawal agreement which is shown on my TIE. They never stamped it last time we went back to visit the UK , that was from Málaga airport , which we will use again in a couple of weeks. It does seem from reading that it depends on the official and exit/entry point to Spain.

Have just been through passport control on my way out of Malaga, but there was no queue fot either channel (5 des
ks staffed for the All Passports one) so there was no point asking. Will see what it's like on the way back.

I flew back into Málaga yesterday evening (landing at 8.30 pm). My heart sank when I saw the queues for Passport Control. I spoke to the woman who was directing the queues, showed my TIE (permanent one issued under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement) and asked politely if it was possible, with that TIE, to use the channel for EU citizens. No, with a British passport you use the other queue, keep moving was the curt reply. So I shan't be bothering to ask again! Someone else could ask tomorrow and get a different reply, no doubt. But yesterday they weren't even directing families with young children to use the EU channel, which I have seen happen before, there were at least half a dozen with babies or toddlers I saw in the All Other Passports queue.

Actually it was not too bad, the queue moved faster than I feared it would and I got through after half an hour's wait, passport not stamped. There were 4 desks staffed for the Other Passports queue and only 2 for the EU citizens' queue, and as 3 flights from Ireland had arrived within a short time of each other that line was very long too.

Good of you to publish your experience. This concurs to what has always happened to me. The only time I have got through the EU one is at Alicante but was because my son was under 18- but essentially it is because young children cannot operate the e-gates. Normally they will separate them but not necessarily at the start of the queue sometimes the family has to wait in UK queue until they reach the gate but all this is simply a case of how the officers feel. As for TIE holders it is always about passport nothing to do with residency so I am afraid we just have to be prepared to queue which we do in UK anyway as nearly everyone is Brits on flights so the egates at some airports can be busy- whereas the international channels can be faster ( certainly case at East Midlands).
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It will be interesting to see what will happen when EU's Entry-Exit-System (EES) is introduced this October (though today's news seem to suggest it has again been delayed till next year). At Spanish airports for non-Schengen arrivals, there will be at least three queues - one for EU passports/e-gates, another for non-EU non-visa nationals non-residents (including UK holidaymakers) who will use the new EES gates, and everyone else (including UK citizens who are residents). If those with TIE are directed to the last queue, it can get quite slow if there are plenty of visa nationals who need to be processed individually and passports stamped. It will be great if TIE holders are able to use the EU gates or they create a forth queue specifically for them.

Thanks for the update Lynn we are flying back from Málaga in a couple of weeks and will stick to standard UK gate .