E-Gates

[jonbar.1]

Would you believe it.
Just after Spain had decided to make things easier for Brits travelling to Spain ( allowing visitors through the "EU" section at the airport) They have decided now ( possibly) to make things even more difficult.
Travellers using the e-gates may have to show even more documents than previously.
Even the dreaded " Carta De Invitation" has, once again, reared it's ugly head.
See the link below:

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/b ... fice-says/

[costakid]

and the 1st line is they might need to

More scaremongering from pro brexit people.

[Screagle]

So what happened to or is happening with the implementation of EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) due in May 2022? Ditto the "European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS)". All seems to have gone a bit quiet unless I've missed something...

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/f ... er-checks/

Saludos

[jonbar.1]

Talk about "Killing the goose.....etc etc"
I live in Spain so they've got my money.Maybe they don't need any more from tourists.( Spain being such a wealthy country an' all)

[Pamela1]

and the 1st line is they might need to

More scaremongering from pro brexit people.

Agree costakid, it was started as a rumour and now people beleive it's part of the gospel...

[elusive]

It nothing new. It was reported about first over a year ago by the british press. They are no doubt doing it again as its the start of the holiday season in order to get attention and maybe the tories are boring them!. Its a rule that has been in place for many years for third country nationals,which the UK is now one of. The carta.. is normally required for those who need a visa to enter the EU.. ifs not a brand new law created by spain to upset the brits we really arent that important. Brexit voters wanted to be treated as third country nationals so there you go....

Dont worry jon. Recent surverys show the germans,belgiums amongst others spend more money on hols than the brits and even more so the rich scandies who spend the winters here. Britian doesnt rule the waves anymore no matter how important some think they are.

[Manchesteral]

It nothing new. It was reported about first over a year ago by the british press. They are no doubt doing it again as its the start of the holiday season in order to get attention and maybe the tories are boring them!. Its a rule that has been in place for many years for third country nationals,which the UK is now one of. The carta.. is normally required for those who need a visa to enter the EU.. ifs not a brand new law created by spain to upset the brits we really arent that important. Brexit voters wanted to be treated as third country nationals so there you go....

Dont worry jon. Recent surverys show the germans,belgiums amongst others spend more money on hols than the brits and even more so the rich scandies who spend the winters here. Britian doesnt rule the waves anymore no matter how important some think they are.

Totally agree elusive, Brits from being a nation of great people have evolved into a nation of entitled whiners who don't like it up em Mr Manwaring sir.
I live half the year in Gran Canaria and half in Finland, I have no intention of interacting with anyone who is a moaner, my theory is that if you don't like it either shut up and get on with it or go back where you came from !

[Pamela1]

Wasn't that long ago Spain was falling all over themselves to keep their borders open to allow Brits in when they were not open to Brits in other EU countries.If Brits wern't so important!! The likes of Benidorm would close down...I remember being in Torre and the taxi driver said it was dead and they needed the Brits so no matter how much the Germans, Belgiums etc spend Brits come in their droves and they don't live off fresh air when they get here...

[markwilding]

The rules are reciprocal. Maybe if the UK allowed Spanish citizens to stay in the UK as long as they want, then Spain will do the same.
Spain is not stopping tourists and are still encouraging the Brits to come so there is no risk to Benidorm. This is to stop people entering for other reasons such as working. The UK have exactly the same controls.
However, unless the border controls have some reason to be suspicious, which is unlikely to happen to either British or Spanish entering both countries, it is not likely they will be asked for extra documents

I doubt they will be asking for any proof of return tickets. The case of the Spanish girl who was sent to a detention centre was because when asked why she was coming to the UK, she replied that she would be looking for work, not realizing that she could not.

Not once have I been asked why I am entering Spain, but I have lost count of how many times I have been asked where I am coming from and the reason for travelling while entering the UK.

[katy]

Wasn't that long ago Spain was falling all over themselves to keep their borders open to allow Brits in when they were not open to Brits in other EU countries.If Brits wern't so important!! The likes of Benidorm would close down...I remember being in Torre and the taxi driver said it was dead and they needed the Brits so no matter how much the Germans, Belgiums etc spend Brits come in their droves and they don't live off fresh air when they get here...

Agree Pamela love or hate them the Brits are still important for tourist areas.

[costakid]

Wasn't that long ago Spain was falling all over themselves to keep their borders open to allow Brits in when they were not open to Brits in other EU countries.If Brits wern't so important!! The likes of Benidorm would close down...I remember being in Torre and the taxi driver said it was dead and they needed the Brits so no matter how much the Germans, Belgiums etc spend Brits come in their droves and they don't live off fresh air when they get here...

Agree, The brits are more important than most other nations mentioned in all the big tourist areas. Brits who holiday for two weeks a year start spending as soon as they arrive on booze and food and dont stop for the two weeks. Spain would be in serious trouble without those customers.

[costakid]

[quote=Manchesteral post_id=421441 time=1658426387 user_id=1
[/quote]


I live half the year in Gran Canaria and half in Finland, I have no intention of interacting with anyone who is a moaner, my theory is that if you don't like it either shut up and get on with it or go back where you came from !
[/quote]

Just wondering why you are on A.com and not a Finnish and Tenerife forum?

[katy]

I think he used to live in Calahonda ?

[Wicksey]

[quote=Manchesteral post_id=421441 time=1658426387 user_id=1

I live half the year in Gran Canaria and half in Finland, I have no intention of interacting with anyone who is a moaner, my theory is that if you don't like it either shut up and get on with it or go back where you came from !
[/quote]

Just wondering why you are on A.com and not a Finnish and Tenerife forum?
[/quote]

He did stay in Torrox for a while the other year. And it's Gran Canaria, not Tenerife, different provinces .... not sure if there is a similar expats forum for the Canaries in general (or the specific islands). I have looked in the past and could not find anything like as good as ACom for help and information, which is perhaps why he's still here! After all, PeterOldRacer never left us and he's in Murcia (and Mark's in Bilbao )

[Manchesteral]

I think he used to live in Calahonda ?

Correct !

[Manchesteral]

[quote=Manchesteral post_id=421441 time=1658426387 user_id=1

I live half the year in Gran Canaria and half in Finland, I have no intention of interacting with anyone who is a moaner, my theory is that if you don't like it either shut up and get on with it or go back where you came from !

Just wondering why you are on A.com and not a Finnish and Tenerife forum?
[/quote]

He did stay in Torrox for a while the other year. And it's Gran Canaria, not Tenerife, different provinces .... not sure if there is a similar expats forum for the Canaries in general (or the specific islands). I have looked in the past and could not find anything like as good as ACom for help and information, which is perhaps why he's still here! After all, PeterOldRacer never left us and he's in Murcia (and Mark's in Bilbao )
[/quote]

You are correct wicksey, I have lived in Torrox (for 5 months) I've been in many places in Spain, in fact all over the world.

My preference for Gran Canaria is very simple, even though it's a big city it still has a small town feel, what you don't get there is dozens of bars flying Union flags and full of people who could either be from Eastenders or Coronation street therefore the town has not lost it's identity. If you travel to the south of the Island, Maspalomas or Playa del Ingles there are a good number of places catering for the basic brit on holiday, those places are not for me.

We do have couple of forums aimed at British people but they are by and large basically promoting the authors own profile and nowhere near as good as A. com.

I am a British citizen with long and strong business and genetic ties to both Finland and Sweden and chose to live in the virtually crime free city of Helsinki because it suits me !

I have been on this forum for a number of years and on the whole it's a very good and informative publication and most of the members down to earth and free with good info.

To make myself very clear, I like the Spanish people very much particularly Canarians, I get very pi55ed off when I read of people complaining about the smallest things instead of celebrating life and living it, I often wonder why, if some people are so fed up with life in Spain, they continue to live there !

[Manchesteral]

[quote=Manchesteral post_id=421441 time=1658426387 user_id=1

I live half the year in Gran Canaria and half in Finland, I have no intention of interacting with anyone who is a moaner, my theory is that if you don't like it either shut up and get on with it or go back where you came from !

Just wondering why you are on A.com and not a Finnish and Tenerife forum?

He did stay in Torrox for a while the other year. And it's Gran Canaria, not Tenerife, different provinces .... not sure if there is a similar expats forum for the Canaries in general (or the specific islands). I have looked in the past and could not find anything like as good as ACom for help and information, which is perhaps why he's still here! After all, PeterOldRacer never left us and he's in Murcia (and Mark's in Bilbao )
[/quote]

You are correct wicksey, I have lived in Torrox (for 5 months) I've been in many places in Spain, in fact all over the world.

My preference for Gran Canaria is very simple, even though it's a big city it still has a small town feel, what you don't get there is dozens of bars flying Union flags and full of people who could either be from Eastenders or Coronation street therefore the town has not lost it's identity. If you travel to the south of the Island, Maspalomas or Playa del Ingles there are a good number of places catering for the basic brit on holiday, those places are not for me.

We do have couple of forums aimed at British people but they are by and large basically promoting the authors own profile and nowhere near as good as A. com.

I am a British citizen with long and strong business and genetic ties to both Finland and Sweden and chose to live in the virtually crime free city of Helsinki because it suits me !

I have been on this forum for a number of years and on the whole it's a very good and informative publication and most of the members down to earth and free with good info.

To make myself very clear, I like the Spanish people very much particularly Canarians, I get very pi55ed off when I read of people complaining about the smallest things instead of celebrating life and living it, I often wonder why, if some people are so fed up with life in Spain, they continue to live there !

Regarding the questions of Foreign language forums and publications in Finland there are no decent ones so no point looking, we do have a British style tabloid here "The Helsinki times"((paid for with advertising because no one would pay for it) but it's pretty much the usual drivel ie Brits moaning about life in Finland instead of just leaving and going somewhere else !

[markwilding]

I don't think you need to justify yourself. I agree that It's a forum mainly about Andalucia and the south of Spain, but some threads have a Spanish wide focus and opinions and knowledge regarding areas which affect anyone living in Spain can be useful as well, The Basque Country has a very small English-speaking community, I think about 5,000 in total and less than half are British so A.com has lots of information which would be almost impossible to find elsewhere.
This thread is one which actually affects all Brits living in Spain. In my opinion, having a slightly different perfective is helpful too. For example, while I take the point that tourism has a major impact on Spain's economy, Spain is not only sun sea and sangria and around 90 per cent of the economy is in industry, banking as well as many Spanish multinationals in the retail, tele-communications and energy sectors.
There are also members whose only connection to Andalucia is they take holidays there, but they too have stories to tell about their experiences which might prove useful

[Wicksey]

I have yet to find anything else like this forum (I am not on Facebook) for information and help (especially the computer section) and I do try to give what I hope is useful info too as I have been here many years. When I eventually leave Andalucia then I will want to continue on here as the contacts are so useful. (I do like Las Palmas too, and we never stay in the tourist areas when going to the Canaries)

Back to the E Gates, I also thought that the new system of gates to register those coming and going from third countries was due to be introduced in May, but then I wasn't really expecting it to be on schedule. As I have the TIE card my passport is barely looked at here, so I don't know how much attention the border control officers give to those entering Spain at the mo, other than stamping. I can't imagine they'd have the time or inclination to start asking for proof of accommodation etc.

[Pamela1]

Wasn't that long ago Spain was falling all over themselves to keep their borders open to allow Brits in when they were not open to Brits in other EU countries.If Brits wern't so important!! The likes of Benidorm would close down...I remember being in Torre and the taxi driver said it was dead and they needed the Brits so no matter how much the Germans, Belgiums etc spend Brits come in their droves and they don't live off fresh air when they get here...

Agree, The brits are more important than most other nations mentioned in all the big tourist areas. Brits who holiday for two weeks a year start spending as soon as they arrive on booze and food and dont stop for the two weeks. Spain would be in serious trouble without those customers.

I bring serious money into Spain as do my family.Im sure you do too......Visit at least 6 times a year..The cost of maintainence is not to be laughed at, we must have spent thousands over the years on machinery and plumber/ electrical costs but even if we hadn't we spend out in the bars/shops/suppermarkets etc...I wonder how much more ex pats living in Andalucia spend when they say Brits are not important! How about my families 15grand a year! Is that not important enough!