Spain brings in new travel rules for Brit tourists over 70 | World | News
Spain has announced new travel rules for British holidaymakers over the age of 70. Every year millions of sun loving Brits flock to Spain to soak up the sun, the way of life and its historic sights, however Brits travelling here will soon have to pay a fee to enter the country.
Brits and other non-EU travellers will soon have to pay a €20 (£17.45) entry fee into Spain and 29 European nations under a new travel scheme. Following Brexit, UK passport holders must register with the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) to access certain European destinations. The UK will be joining a group of visa-exempt non-European countries when the requirement is expected to come into force in late 2026.
Who will be excempt from the fee?
However, Spain announced this week that Brits over 70 will be exempt from the new fee alongside children under 18. For everyone else, the new fee could quickly add up. A family of four, for example, will see an extra €40 slapped onto the price of their holiday.
The €20 charge per person is a sharp jump from the €7 originally proposed – a fee Brussels now says needs to be higher to cover Covid recovery costs and added technical features with EU officials arguing that the rise is necessary to keep the scheme sustainable.
The scheme’s implementation has been postponed several times already. Earlier this year, the EU’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs estimated that the ETIAS will be introduced in the final quarter of 2026. Following an initial grace period, applying for an ETIAS will become mandatory in 2027.
Most applications are expected to be approved “almost immediately”, although the system could highlight problems with your ETIAS submission that might result in rejection.
Reasons for ETIAS applications being declined are believed to include possessing an invalid passport, being considered a “risk” or having a Schengen Information System (SIS) alert, submitting an incomplete application, or failing to attend a mandatory interview.
