Spain holiday warning as Brits told to expect ‘significant chaos’ this summer at these six airports

BRITS are being warned to brace themselves for more "significant chaos" this summer when travelling to Spain.

Tourism alliance Exceltur has singled out the airports of south and north Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Malaga and Majorca for special warnings.

The organisation says there will be "significant and major chaos" as these airports are particularly popular with the Brits.

And Exceltur says it is "urgent" to improve the provision of border controls to try and improve the situation.

Vice president of Exceltur, José Luis Zoreda said the chaos is being created by the "strong explosion" in demand and will be particularly bad in those which record the largest arrivals of British tourists. This will include all the airports in the Canary Islands.

At the Madrid-Barajas airport, the shortage of personnel at passport controls must be remedied "urgently";, Mr Zoreda added.

Exceltur says Spain's airport authority, AENA is not to blame for the problems and praised the "great professionalism" shown so far given the significant volume of tourists arriving in Spain each year.

Mr. Zoreda said lack of personnel was to blame, coupled with the impact of the Ryanair and easyJet strikes and flight cancellations.

He has urged the Ministry of the Interior to make sure there are all the necessary police resources at the main tourist airports and in Madrid-Barajas to facilitate passport control. 

"These are causing remarkable dissuasive problems and inconvenience to tourists who want to fly to Spain," he said.

"The Ministry of Interior must provide the necessary means so that Spanish airports continue to stand out as the best gateway for tourists to enter and exit our country."

Back in May, holidaymakers using Majorca airport were forced to wait more than an hour to get through security checks with "congestion and crowds everywhere".

And more chaos is expected across Spain this month, as both Ryanair and easyJet staff are to go on strike again.

The UK Foreign Office has even updated their travel advice, warning Brits of the upcoming walkouts.

Ryanair walkouts have been proposed from July 12 to 15, July 18 to 21 and July 25 to 28, affecting ten bases - Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Sevilla, Palma, Valencia, Girona, Santiago de Compostela and Ibiza.

Further easyJet strikes will then take place between July 15 and 17 and July 29 and 31.

There is some hope however, as Spain is now allowing Brits to use their eGates at airports, speeding up airport queues.

Despite the welcome boost, holidaymakers are still being warned to make sure their passports are being stamped even if using the eGates.

This is because the new restrictions allow Brits to stay just 90 days over a 180 day period.

A woman was banned from entering Spain as she didn't have an exit stamp in her passport, leading them to think she overstayed her visit.