Spain travel warning as country introduces strict border control

With the peak summer travel coming to an end in Europe, holidaymakers heading to Spain have received a new warning.

Travellers have been alerted about new passport checks between Spain and Gibraltar leading to massive delays at the border crossing, according to The Sun. Gibraltar has accused Spanish authorities of enforcing strict security measures at the border "without warning." As a result, the British territory is set to introduce tight passport checks at the border as well, starting next week.

Gibraltar's decision

The diplomatic row erupted when Spanish border police increased the scanning of passports and other ID documents. Even the holders of Gibraltar's red ID card were not spared.

In a statement released on Friday, Gibraltar officials said Spanish border authorities had "without prior warning, initiated a new passport control regime."

"The new practice entails the scanning of a significant number of passports, including those held by Gibraltar resident red card holders and even of some Spanish nationals. Reports suggest that some ID cards are also being scanned.

"This, together with higher numbers of people crossing the border at the height of the summer tourist season, has caused lengthy queues and considerable inconvenience to thousands of people coming into Gibraltar, the vast majority of whom are actually Spanish," read the statement.

For the past two years, Spain and the UK have been in constant negotiations, trying to reach an agreement on the movement of goods and people in and out of Gibraltar after Brexit. They agree that the border must have hard checks, but both governments wish to keep fluid movement, especially for tens of thousands of Spanish workers who enter the Rock on a daily basis.

If Spain does not scale back on the checks, Gibraltar has claimed it would increase checks on Spanish workers' ID cards as they enter the territory.

Spain reacts to Gibraltar's claims

Responding to Gibraltar's claims, Spain has said the allegation is invalid and checking procedures remain in place as usual.

"There has been no change or alteration in the rules or procedures that underpin the checking of documents to enter or leave Spain," a spokesman for Spain's interior ministry told the Telegraph.

Earlier, travellers going to Spain were also warned of a new outbreak of a dangerous disease that could turn fatal in some cases. The Spanish authorities alerted everyone about mpox (monkeypox) after half a dozen cases were detected in Barcelona over the past two months

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. Some of its most common symptoms are a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.