TV travel expert Simon Calder gives Spain, Portugal, Italy summer rule update

He explained that it’s possible those countries could make change after Greece decided to alter border checks

TV holiday expert Simon Calder has said that it’s possible travellers could see major changes this summer – as the potential for key countries loved by UK holidaymakers to ‘switch off’ a controversial new border system which has caused chaos. The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated IT system was implemented April 10, 2026.

It replaces manual passport stamping for non-EU nationals, including UK citizens, entering the Schengen Area for short stays. It records biometric data – fingerprints and photo – at border checkpoints, applying to 90-day, visa-free, or short-stay visa travel.

Reports have shown that it’s caused chaos – with three and four hour queues and in some cases people have missed flights due to delays. Mr Calder, who appears on BBC Breakfast and Good Morning Britain, explained that a recent decision by Greece to suspend the system – without any repercussions from EU authorities – could have a big impact on other hotspots popular with UK travellers – like Spain, Portugal and Italy.

He said in a blog: “It’s over two weeks since the Greek government said, ‘Ah, we’re not going to bother with all those biometric things for the British holiday makers who are coming over. There’s loads of them. We’d rather they had a nice easy time at the airport and got to the beach.’

“I thought, ‘Well, they’ll never get away with that. There’s nothing in the rules for the EU entry exit system that allows them to do it.’ But it seems they have, and I think that will encourage other governments, perhaps Portugal, Italy, Spain to say, ‘We’re not going to bother either. Let’s stagger through to the end of summer and perhaps take another look at the digital border scheme in the autumn.’”

British holiday makers to Europe this summer face ‘frontier roulette’ he said: “You simply don’t know what’s going to happen. It might be that they’ll want the four fingerprints from your right hand and a facial biometric and that you will be asked to do that multiple times. Or they could just say, ‘Look, we’ll just have a Look at your passport, skim off the important details, and we’ll call that quits’. All you can do is hope for the best, be prepared for delays and disruption, and do what you’re told. Ryanair is among the many transport companies which are calling for the entry exit system to be suspended for the summer.

“There is no doubt that while some places are doing it really well, many others are having a tough time. And it’s ultimately British holiday makers who are going to suffer more than anyone else. So, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we get an announcement really quite soon from Brussels saying, ‘Hi, all right, we’re going to give up for now, but we’ll have another crack in the autumn.’”

He explained that in the month since the EES was introduced it’s not gone very well: “It’s nearly a month since we were told the entry exit system is working at all frontiers right across the continent and it’s all going to be great. Well, it certainly hasn’t been. We’ve seen people missing planes because the outbound cues to get your fingerprints done and your facial biometric have simply taken too long. There’s an awful lot of time being wasted trying to comply with the rules and all the evidence I’m seeing is that the best thing that could happen in line with what lots of travel companies are asking for is oh just suspend the whole thing and have another look in the autumn when it’s quieter.

“The key thing to remember as a British holiday maker to Europe is that you face frontier roulette. You’ve got no idea whether the frontier officials will demand your fingerprints from your right hand and your facial biometrics or they might just say we’re going to skim the important details from your passport and we’ll be happy with that. The whole system seems to be unravelling with individual countries, notably Greece saying we’re not doing this anymore. And I think quite it soon. Europe is going to have to say it’s not actually working. We’re going to have another go. For now, let’s just relax things over the summer. But there’s simply no guarantees.”

Last month Ryanair announced passengers who need to use its airport check-in or bag-drop services will be required to finish the process 20 minutes earlier. The airline announced it will close the services an hour before the scheduled departure of a flight – compared with 40 minutes currently – to give passengers more time to get through security and passport checks.

This will reduce the “very small number of passengers” who miss their flight while stuck in queues, the carrier added.