The British press has once again targeted Tenerife, this time due to passport control issues at Tenerife South Airport, describing the conditions as “inhuman.” The start of the British half-term break was expected to be a boon for Tenerife’s hotels but turned into a passport ordeal when multiple flights from the UK arrived simultaneously, overwhelming entry checks and causing scenes more fitting for a concert than an international airport.
Half-term breaks are mid-term school holidays, usually a week long, occurring typically in the last week of October, mid-February, and the last week of May.
Only Four Agents
Airport sources acknowledge that only four national police officers were stamping passports when at least five flights full of British passengers arrived. The situation has worsened since 2021, when Brexit made UK travelers non-EU nationals requiring more thorough checks.
Queues at Tenerife South / TikTok
Viral videos show families crowded in a non-ventilated hallway. Some passengers were held in planes for 45 minutes and, once on the ground, faced a single queue snaking outside the building. In this situation, parents lifted children above their heads to “prevent them from suffocating” and shouted for water, as witnesses told the tabloid The Sun.
Season at Risk
The British newspaper reports that even the president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, and the island’s tourism adviser, Lope Afonso, urgently requested reinforcements from the Ministry of the Interior and AENA: “Our main market cannot be received in third-world conditions; the high season is at stake.”
In a press conference discussing government council agreements, the island president lamented the situation, citing the “collapse” on Monday, May 26, when “over 500 tourists were trapped in a crowded hall at the airport” waiting for passport control. Dávila recalled the letter sent to the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, expressing concern over the undervaluation of National Police positions in the passport control system, while the national department responded that they were sufficiently staffed.
More Waiting
That’s not all. The European biometric registration system (Entry/Exit System) will begin trials this fall, requiring fingerprints and photos from each non-European, which could multiply wait times if human and technological resources are not strengthened. Therefore, this situation, if not addressed, could just be “a preview of what’s to come.”
