EU travel for Irish citizens - Brexit Implications

CruelSummer

Hello all, I’ve recently returned from a long weekend in Spain and wanted to ask a question. After security, my passport was stamped for a second time - similar to the U.K. citizens. We had to queue up for this second passport control along with our Brexit neighbours. Is this because Ireland remains in the Common Travel Area and is therefore being treated as an extension of the U.K.?

ohnonotgmail

are you sure you didn't stand in the wrong queue? there is a separate queue for EU citizens that excludes british citizens.

StreetLight

I am in Spain at the moment. There were staff at the arrival airport specifically picking out Irish passport holders so that we WOULDN'T have to go through the extra controls the Brits had to use.

Maybe you were in the wrong queue?

Where was the flight to/from?

Caranica

Brexit has absolutely no EU travel implications for Irish people OP??

ted1

Wrong Q, nothing to see, move on

CruelSummer

It definitely wasn’t the wrong queue, going into Spain all was normal. The usual controls. Leaving, beyond security enroute to departure gates, there were extra security personnel directing Irish and English people to two separate kiosk lines - which involved Irish citizens having to queue up for another passport control section before entering the departure gates, and get the passport stamped and swiped again upon leaving. I’ve never had this upon leaving Spain before. It specifically said this was for EU citizens in our queue, and other separate kiosks for U.K. citizens. I’m just wondering do Schengen Zone countries have this too - or is this a new regulation put on Irish travellers upon leaving Spain due to our inclusion in the Common Travel Area.

CruelSummer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119177354#Comment_119177354

No this was leaving the airport. All was normal entering.

Was your passport looked at by a border guard before that?

Holiday airports where most of the passengers departing are remaining in the Schengen area are like that.

Your ID is checked at some point to see that you are the person on the ticket, but it isn't a border control.

You are then in the departures area with shops and restaurants or whatever.

Those of us leaving Schengen get separate departure gates and have our passports looked at/scanned and you are generally then stuck in that area often without shops or coffee shops.

The extra above is normal, but getting your Irish passport stamped would not be correct/normal.

vegandinner

No stamp needed, probably just the two two queues got merged and a border agent just used muscle memory to stamp your passport

CruelSummer

Thanks for the replies, I’ll be interested to hear feedback over the summer from others. I’ve been through many Spanish airports and it hasn’t been done like this before. Correct that you pass through one last security point to enter gate area leaving Schengen zone to make sure you’re the person on the ticket. But this was full border checks, at kiosks with passports being stamped and scanned to enter the gate area for ‘EU’ travellers which were all Irish at one area and U.K. at the other - no difference in queue or length of time for Irish and no advantage either to us being in EU.

This after already being checked in & gone through security originally.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119179431#Comment_119179431

were there separate queues for EU Citizens and British citizens?

CruelSummer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119179571#Comment_119179571

Yes but both essentially doing the same thing, both queuing at kiosks and passports scanned & stamped. Then through to the gates area.

acequion

Which Spanish airport OP? I arrived to Alicante on Friday and as you said,no issue at all on entry. Will be leaving again from Alicante in two weeks with a special needs person so this kind of malarky that you flagged would surely require getting to the airport earlier. Sounds inconvenient and am hoping that in your case it was just some one off irregularity.

Very interesting, please, to hear of other experiences departing Spanish airports for Ireland?