The new EU Entry-Exit system begins on Sunday 12 October with exemptions for UK residents in Spain with TIEs (tarjeta de identificación extranjeros). However, this is NOT the case for those with the old certificates green certificates.
See UK government advice (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-spain):
Green Certificates (‘Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión Europea’) will not be recognised for EES exemption. The Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE) is the only residency document listed in the EU Schengen Border Guard Handbook and is the only document which border officers will accept as legal proof of residency.
Green Certificate holders may be wrongly identified as overstaying in the Schengen area and, therefore, denied entry to Spain or other Schengen countries.
Contact the Spanish Government’s ‘Extranjeria’ offices for information on how to apply for the new TIE.
Announcement from the Ministerio de Interior:
The European Union to activate its new border control system on 12 October
The Entry-Exit System (EES) is a new automated computer procedure that will record the entries and exits of third-country nationals from the Schengen Area and will be implemented progressively until it is fully operational, scheduled for 10 April 2026.
The Ministry of the Interior has invested 83 million euros to adapt all Spanish border posts to the technical requirements of the EES, which will continue to be the responsibility of the National Police while the Civil Guard retains its fiscal protection missions.
The EES will record travellers' passport details, their photo, fingerprints and the date and place of entry or exit, and once operational within six months it will replace the traditional procedure of manually stamping passports.
More information:
The European Union will activate its new border control model on Sunday, 12 October, from which date it will gradually come into operation until it is fully operational, scheduled for 10 April 2026.
The EU EES is a new automated computer system that will record the entries and exits from the Schengen Area of those nationals of third countries not part of this European agreement on the free movement of people. In addition, this new digital registry will eliminate the requirement of passport stamping for travelers entering or leaving European territory.
The control of European border posts in Spanish territory, whether in ports, airports and land borders, will continue to be the responsibility of the National Police, while the Civil Guard retains its missions of preventing and prosecuting smuggling, fraud and other tax and customs crimes.
The Ministry of the Interior has made an investment of 83 million euros to adapt all Spanish border posts to the technical requirements of the EES. All land and air borders are now ready to start operating with the new system.
The process has not yet been concluded in the case of seaports because various port authorities have not yet closed the bidding process and installation of the necessary infrastructures to comply with the requirements of the new European border model.
Progressive implementation
During the six months of testing the EU EES, the entry into operation at Spanish border posts will be progressive, first at airports, in a second phase at land borders and, finally, at sea borders. On Sunday, 12 October, the first test will be carried out with the passage of a flight that will land at the Madrid-Barajas-Adolfo Suárez airport early in the morning.
The EES is an advanced technological system designed to record information on non-European travellers crossing the external borders of the Schengen Area. To this end, border posts are equipped with computer equipment that will scan your passport data, take your photo and record your fingerprints and the date and place of entry or exit. In the event that you are refused entry by the national authorities, the system will also record this information.
Its gradual entry into operation over a period of six months means that border crossings will introduce the different elements of the EES in phases, so travellers' biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) may not be collected immediately at all and their personal information may not be recorded in the system.
During those six months, the EES will coexist with the traditional manual stamping of passports, which will disappear once the system is fully operational from 10 April 2026, as it is a time-consuming procedure, does not provide reliable data on border crossings and does not allow the systematic detection of people who have exceeded the maximum duration of their authorized stay.
The EES will register travellers from non-EU third countries every time they cross an external border of one of the 29 European countries that are part of the Schengen Area to stay for a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period.
If the traveller needs an entry visa, the system will only store their passport data and facial image, because their fingerprints were already registered when they applied for the visa. If the traveler does not need a visa, the system will also collect four of their fingerprints.
Agile and secure system
The Entry-Exit System is one of the measures adopted to achieve the objectives of the European Security and Migration agendas in border management and the prevention of cross-border crime. The European Commission presented its smart borders proposal in April 2016. Following negotiations with the European Parliament and the Council, it was approved in July 2017. The EES Regulation, together with a specific amendment to the Schengen Borders Code, entered into force on 29 December 2017.
The EU has opted for the EES, among other reasons, because it facilitates the identification of people who stay on European soil longer than allowed, who use false identities or passports or who, for various reasons, do not have the right to enter European countries.
For EU decision-makers, the EES provides reliable data in real time, helping national authorities to identify individuals posing a security threat, as well as cases of document and identity fraud. It also helps detect irregular migration by identifying people who overstay or those who try to enter any EU country irregularly.
The EES therefore modernises border management to make travel safer, smoother and more efficient by reducing waiting times at passport control through the introduction of automated border controls, which always operate under the supervision of passport control officers.
Although the collection of biometric data may affect the privacy of travellers, the technology used in the EES ensures the protection of individuals' fundamental rights by meeting all the requirements set out in the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.
The system managers have also provided safeguards to guarantee the rights of travellers with regard to the protection of their privacy and personal data, which will only be kept in the system for as long as necessary and for the purposes for which they were collected.
