According to the Spanish government, the crowds and queues registered at passport controls at the state’s major airports are “a result of a confluence of flights from outside the Schengen area”, in the context of “very exceptional” circumstances.
The Minister of Territorial Policy and Spokesperson from government of Spain Elizabeth Rodriguezannounced this Tuesday that “places are being restored right now” of agents at passport controls for international passengers in the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airportwith “up to 200 new national police functions”.
Rodríguez, when asked about the crowds and long lines which currently take place at the passport controls of the major airports of the state, has assured that there will be a response to the large influx of international passengers at the airports during the summer months, has indicated that at Madrid airport the number of more than 600 agents will be reached, arguing that the queues are “a result of a confluence of flights from outside the Schengen area”, in the context of “very exceptional” circumstances.
In this rule, there have been complaints from the Aviation Association (ALA) and from companies like Iberian, as well as the Community of Madrid and the City Council of the capital of Spain. According to ALA, some 3,000 people lost their flights at Barajas airport last Easter and since March 1. 15,000 Iberia passengers they would not have arrived in time to catch their air connection due to delays in checks.
“Not a single complaint about missed flight”
However, in the words of the Ministry of the Interior of the Government of Spain, there have been no significant delays or collapses due to a lack of police personnel: “In recent months, the National Police has not registered a single complaint about missed flights, which contradicts certain statements,” ministry sources said.
“We reiterate that there are no queues or delays beyond specific situations caused by the coincidence of several flights from outside the Schengen area, and there is no evidence that flights have been lost, let alone the number of 15,000 being distributed without any demonstration, due to incidents at passport control,” they added from the Interior.
The lack of passport control troops has been criticized by several agents in the tourism industry; however, with the arrival of summer, coupled with the increasing recovery of international tourism, the problem seems to be exacerbating.
According to data provided by the government of Spain, with the reinforcements “already being implemented”, there will be a total of 601 National Police personnel at Madrid-Barajas airport from June, for an AENA forecast of 18,725 262 passengers for the whole month. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, there was a June transit of 19,232,735 passengers and Madrid airport had 425 national police officers.
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Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
