Tenerife Sur has become the latest Spanish airport to start using the new EES system for non-EU residents.
The rollout of EES at the main international airport in the Canary Island of Tenerife is the latest in a series of Spanish airports phasing in the new border technology.
READ ALSO: What will new EES border checks mean for non-EU residents in Europe?
That’s according to the British Embassy in Spain, which on Thursday November 6th posted on its Facebook page ‘Brits in Spain’ to warn UK nationals that Tenerife Sur airport is now using the new biometric border system.
Along with Málaga Airport-Costa del Sol Airport and Alicante-Elche airport, which has outlined plans to create a special non-Schengen terminal area, Tenerife Sur is a very popular airport with British travellers and holidaymakers.
According to data from the Frontur Canarias survey, 2.7 million British tourists arrived in Tenerife in 2024, 9.7 percent more than in 2023.
As such, the EES rollout will be watched closely by Brits and Spanish airport authorities alike.
British tourists arriving in Tenerife Sur have sometimes been able to use e-gates prior to the EES launch, as the technology was already installed.
Nevertheless, non-EU travellers have also needed to have their passports stamped by border officers, which has meant that that the flow of passengers hasn't been as smooth and quick as it is soon expected to be.
In fact, this summer hundreds of British holidaymakers faced chaotic and severely overcrowded conditions when queuing at passport control at Tenerife South airport, scenes which highlighted the need for a smooth, passport stamp-free system.
According to local Canary media, a total of 48 biometric e-gates will be installed at the airport which welcomes the vast majority of international tourists to Tenerife.
Tenerife North, in the city of La Laguna in the north of the island, is used mainly for national flights.
Tenerife Sur follows several other major Spanish travel hubs in implementing the new border system. Madrid Barajas airport was the first to start trialling EES on October 12th.
This was followed by three other smaller airports - Seville, Tenerife North and Burgos. Then Málaga airport started testing the new system on October 12th.
Then came the addition of Barcelona earlier this week on October 27th and Gran Canaria from October 29th.
Alicante-Elche rolled out EES on October 31st.
Mallorca is scheduled to kickstart EES on November 19th.
EES
The new passport checks started being implemented in many European countries on October 12th and will be rolled out across much of the bloc for the next six months until April 10th 2026.
To be exact, this affects the 29 European countries that form part of the Schengen Area - all those in the European Union except Cyprus and Ireland, as well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
It essentially means more checks for those from third countries - such as having photographs and fingerprints taken - and will record entries and exits from the Schengen Area for third-country nationals.
It gathers and stores:
Details from your travel document (e.g. full name, nationality, date of birth, passport number).
The date, time, and location of your entry and exit.
Your facial image and fingerprints (“biometric data”).
Any record of refused entry, where applicable.
Once the process is complete, passport stamps will be eliminated.
Crucially, if you’re a non-EU citizen but are a resident in Spain, you will not have to register for EES, but you still have to queue in third-country national queue if flying in from outside of the Schengen Area.
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