Low-cost giant Ryanair on 2 July escalated its criticism of the EU’s new border regime, saying that Tenerife Sur, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante and Málaga are already experiencing “major disruptions” and that the situation will deteriorate once British school holidays begin in mid-July. Chief operating officer Neal McMahon urged the Commission to suspend the scheme “at least until September” in “the most exposed countries”, starting with Spain. Ryanair’s intervention matters because the carrier transports more international passengers to Spain than any other airline. It claims that first-time EES enrolment is averaging 70 seconds but balloons to several minutes for elderly passengers and families with children.
For travellers who now face new uncertainties about documentation and EES requirements, VisaHQ can step in with clear, practical assistance. Its Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) provides real-time advice on visa, passport and entry regulations and can process the necessary paperwork on your behalf—helping passengers avoid last-minute surprises that could lengthen airport queues even further.
That, multiplied by peak-hour arrival banks, pushes waiting times beyond two hours even before high season. The airline says planes are leaving semi-empty as stranded passengers fail to clear immigration in time. Spanish tourism bodies fear reputational damage just as the sector is projecting record 2026 revenue. Travel managers with meetings on the islands or the Costa del Sol are being advised to route executives through Madrid or Barcelona—where queue-busting staff reinforcements have been deployed—or to buy flexible fares and airport lounge passes that mitigate disruption costs. The row also exposes a coordination gap: while airlines must carry out EES compliance checks before boarding from October, they say airports and border police are still waiting for final software patches and extra staffing budgets. Unless those pieces fall into place quickly, Ryanair predicts that “missed flights and unnecessary stress” will dominate headlines through the autumn shoulder season as well.
For travellers who now face new uncertainties about documentation and EES requirements, VisaHQ can step in with clear, practical assistance. Its Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) provides real-time advice on visa, passport and entry regulations and can process the necessary paperwork on your behalf—helping passengers avoid last-minute surprises that could lengthen airport queues even further.
That, multiplied by peak-hour arrival banks, pushes waiting times beyond two hours even before high season. The airline says planes are leaving semi-empty as stranded passengers fail to clear immigration in time. Spanish tourism bodies fear reputational damage just as the sector is projecting record 2026 revenue. Travel managers with meetings on the islands or the Costa del Sol are being advised to route executives through Madrid or Barcelona—where queue-busting staff reinforcements have been deployed—or to buy flexible fares and airport lounge passes that mitigate disruption costs. The row also exposes a coordination gap: while airlines must carry out EES compliance checks before boarding from October, they say airports and border police are still waiting for final software patches and extra staffing budgets. Unless those pieces fall into place quickly, Ryanair predicts that “missed flights and unnecessary stress” will dominate headlines through the autumn shoulder season as well.
