EU Free Movement and Schengen area
by Chris Chaplow
Spain’s Immigration Control Points
There are immigration control points at all Airports and Seaports for those entering Spain from non-Schengen locations. Immigration control is the responsibility of the National Police, separately Customs is the responsibility of the Guardia Civil.
As Spain is a member state of the European Union and a signatory of the Schengen Area treaty there are no control points on the French nor the Portuguese land border crossings. Once inside Spain there are no immigration nor customs controls when travelling from region to region.
There are customs controls (but not immigrations) when travelling from the Canary Islands to mainland Spain and from the North African Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla to Andalucia, Spain. This is due to their special duty-free (VAT) status.
There are immigration (passport) and customs control points on the land borders between La Linea, Andalucia Spain and Gibraltar. On the 31-12-2020 the Spanish foreign Minister announced by that an agreement had been reached with the United Kingdom in which Gibraltar would join the Schengen area in 2021.