Spain’s international airports have been testing the EU’s new biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) for months, but passengers were bracing for its full-scale launch in May. On 24 February the European Commission confirmed the roll-out will instead be phased in from September 2026, after larger hubs such as Málaga-Costa del Sol and Barcelona-El Prat warned of peak-season grid-lock. (euroweeklynews.com)
EES will replace passport stamps for non-EU travellers with fingerprint and facial scans recorded automatically at kiosks. Aviation bodies ACI Europe, Airlines 4 Europe and IATA told Brussels that early trials showed processing times jumping 30-50 percent during rush hours, creating safety as well as customer-service risks. By delaying the legal “switch-on” date, the EU has bought airports an extra summer to fine-tune software integration, hire additional border-police staff and expand the number of kiosks. (euroweeklynews.com)
![EU pushes back biometric Entry/Exit System to September, giving Spain’s airports vital breathing space]()
For travellers and travel managers who prefer one source of truth, VisaHQ can help bridge the information gap. Its Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) consolidates the latest EES and ETIAS developments and lets users arrange visas, travel authorisations and supporting documents online, streamlining compliance before departure.
For business travellers the reprieve means a mixed, transitional experience: some Spanish gateways will keep testing kiosks, while others revert to manual stamping whenever queues stretch beyond agreed thresholds. Airlines must also postpone plans to verify passengers’ biometric enrolment at check-in, avoiding an additional layer of complexity for corporate travel managers this summer. Crucially, the delay pushes back the start-date for ETIAS—the €7 travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors—because ETIAS relies on data generated by EES.
Practical advice for companies sending staff to Spain this summer is simple: allow extra time at immigration, brief travellers to follow ground-staff instructions, and keep monitoring airport advisories. Employers should also review their HR systems to capture the new biometric entry records once EES does go live, as these digital time-stamps may become the definitive proof of days spent in the Schengen Area for Posted-Worker Directive compliance and tax residency tests.
EES will replace passport stamps for non-EU travellers with fingerprint and facial scans recorded automatically at kiosks. Aviation bodies ACI Europe, Airlines 4 Europe and IATA told Brussels that early trials showed processing times jumping 30-50 percent during rush hours, creating safety as well as customer-service risks. By delaying the legal “switch-on” date, the EU has bought airports an extra summer to fine-tune software integration, hire additional border-police staff and expand the number of kiosks. (euroweeklynews.com)
For travellers and travel managers who prefer one source of truth, VisaHQ can help bridge the information gap. Its Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) consolidates the latest EES and ETIAS developments and lets users arrange visas, travel authorisations and supporting documents online, streamlining compliance before departure.
For business travellers the reprieve means a mixed, transitional experience: some Spanish gateways will keep testing kiosks, while others revert to manual stamping whenever queues stretch beyond agreed thresholds. Airlines must also postpone plans to verify passengers’ biometric enrolment at check-in, avoiding an additional layer of complexity for corporate travel managers this summer. Crucially, the delay pushes back the start-date for ETIAS—the €7 travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors—because ETIAS relies on data generated by EES.
Practical advice for companies sending staff to Spain this summer is simple: allow extra time at immigration, brief travellers to follow ground-staff instructions, and keep monitoring airport advisories. Employers should also review their HR systems to capture the new biometric entry records once EES does go live, as these digital time-stamps may become the definitive proof of days spent in the Schengen Area for Posted-Worker Directive compliance and tax residency tests.
