Bilbao Port in northern Spain is the most recent port of entry to roll out the brand new EES system for travellers from outdoors of the EU, highlighting the way it’s not simply airports which have new passport checks for UK vacationers and different third-country residents.
Bilbao Port within the Basque Country has turn out to be the most recent Spanish journey hub to start out utilizing the brand new EES system for non-EU residents.
The rollout of EES in Bilbao is the most recent in a collection of Spanish airports and ports phasing within the new border expertise.
Bilbao affords a number of weekly providers to the UK and Ireland, together with to Portsmouth and Rosslare.
READ ALSO: What will new EES border checks imply for non-EU residents in Europe?
The information was shared by the British Embassy in Spain, which on Thursday December eleventh posted on its Facebook web page ‘Brits in Spain’ to warn UK nationals that Bilbao is now additionally utilizing the brand new biometric border system.
“If you’re a customer, your fingerprints and photograph could also be taken on the border,” the UK Embassy in Madrid wrote.
“Please word that EES registration is being launched progressively — not all passengers might be requested to register, and machines might not all the time be in use.”
READ ALSO: Spain’s Tenerife South Airport implements EES border checks
Bilbao Port follows a number of main Spanish airports in implementing the brand new border system. Madrid Barajas airport was the primary to start out trialling EES on October twelfth.
This was adopted by three different smaller airports – Seville, Tenerife North and Burgos. Then Málaga airport began testing the brand new system on October twelfth.
Then got here the addition of Barcelona earlier this week on October twenty seventh and Gran Canaria from October twenty ninth.
Alicante-Elche rolled out EES on October thirty first and Tenerife Sur on November sixth and Lanzarote on November twelfth.
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EES
The new passport checks began being applied in lots of European nations on October twelfth and might be rolled out throughout a lot of the bloc for the following six months till April tenth 2026.
To be precise, this impacts the 29 European nations that kind a part of the Schengen Area – all these within the European Union besides Cyprus and Ireland, in addition to Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
It primarily means extra checks for these from third nations – comparable to having pictures and fingerprints taken – and can report entries and exits from the Schengen Area for third-country nationals.
It gathers and shops:
Details out of your journey doc (e.g. full title, nationality, date of beginning, passport quantity).
The date, time, and placement of your entry and exit.
Your facial picture and fingerprints (“biometric knowledge”).
Any report of refused entry, the place relevant.
Once the method is full, passport stamps might be eradicated.
Crucially, when you’re a non-EU citizen however are a resident in Spain, you’ll not should register for EES, however you continue to should queue in third-country nationwide queue if flying in from outdoors of the Schengen Area.
READ ALSO: What ferry routes can be found between Spain and the UK and Ireland?
