Cruise line Virgin Voyages has sent an alert to passengers booked on the 2,700-berth "Valiant Lady" that disembarkation at Barcelona’s World Trade Center terminal could "take substantially longer than usual" as Spain rolls out the EU Entry/Exit System (EES). The biometric programme—fully operational since 10 April—requires non-EU nationals to register fingerprints and facial images the first time they enter the Schengen Area. While airports grabbed most headlines, seaports are now feeling the pinch. According to the cruise line, Spanish border police have only four EES kiosks installed at the terminal and are processing between 30 and 40 passengers per hour, creating bottlenecks when multiple ships dock simultaneously. Virgin has advised guests to avoid booking flights from Barcelona-El Prat before 13:30 on turnaround days and to use airline self-service bag-drop to compensate for lost time. The warning reverberates beyond leisure cruising: Barcelona is a major maritime hub for corporate incentive travel, on-board product launches and floating trade fairs. Travel-management companies organising such events now face the prospect of longer dwell times and may need to renegotiate pier-usage slots with port operator B:SM. Spain’s Interior Ministry says additional kiosks and police staff are being sourced but notes that the port’s historic buildings pose cabling constraints. In the interim, carriers can request priority lanes for passengers with tight flight connections, but allocation is not guaranteed. Businesses moving crew members and entertainers under Spain’s short-stay work-permit exemption (Royal Decree 557/2011) should factor the new border-processing time into shift rotations and ensure that all personnel have completed EES pre-registration where available. As with airports, once biometrics are in the system, subsequent entries within the 90/180-day period should be quicker, but first-time entrants remain a choke point.
Source: CruiseNews.io
