Will the rest of the EU join Portugal in treating British travellers as equals?

Arriving in an EU country these days invariably involves a dull thud of remembering that no, you cannot simply zip through the speedy passport e-gates but are instead consigned to the ‘third country’ queue for manual checks. Long lines and a slow start to your holiday usually follow.

But hope has emerged for holidaymakers with the news that Portugal has become the first major EU country to break Brexit protocols by treating British travellers in broadly the same way as EU citizens at its borders.

British tourists are now able to bypass the dreaded ‘other passports’ queue and use fast-track e-gates at the country’s key airports. However, for now they must still have their passports stamped in a separate, presumably shorter, line.

Reports suggest the shrewd move aims to attract holidaymakers who might still be picking between various Med countries this summer. Portugal certainly relies on British tourists who are the country’s biggest single visitor group – 2.5 million of us travelled there in 2019, while nearly 484,000 ‘room nights’ were booked up by Britons in the first two months of this year alone.

Commenting on the easing of the rules, Luis Araujo, president of Turismo de Portugal, said: “We are delighted to continue welcoming British tourists to Portugal and are pleased that the e-gates in the country’s main airports will provide increased accessibility for our valued British travellers as we head into the busy summer period.

“We’re delighted to have made travel to Portugal even more seamless for those able to make the most of the new e-gates.”

The news has sparked optimism that other EU countries that depend on British sunseekers will also move to a more fast-track system. With motivations to attract holidaymakers high after two fallow summer seasons, we could well see a change in the rules from the likes of Spain, Italy, France and Greece. Needless to say, with the ongoing problems at UK airports, this would be an encouraging development for those gearing up for summer breaks.

Here, we look at which countries might make travel easier for British tourists this summer and run through Portugal’s current rules.

Will other European holiday favourites follow suit?

Now that Portugal has circumnavigated Brexit passport protocols, we could see a domino effect of EU member states changing their border arrangements. Industry insider Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy the PC Agency, certainly thinks so.

"Portugal is clearly leading the way in recognising that they have to process vast numbers of British visitors as seamlessly as possible otherwise there would be long queues this summer.

"So it’s a clever way of differentiating themselves from other countries who are not processing in the same way.

"I think you will see other EU countries follow this approach otherwise British travellers will face long delays going into France, Spain, Greece, Italy and other countries."

Clues might lie in how different states approached Covid-related travel restrictions and the level of resentment sparked by Brexit. It could be seen that France, which punitively closed its borders to UK travellers multiple times during the peak of the pandemic, would be less likely to ease rules for British tourists than Greece, for example. Still, this is one issue where there isn’t an ongoing tit-for-tat debacle – Britain already allows all EU travellers to use the e-gates at its airports. And there is no doubt a motivation for major holiday destinations to avoid airport chaos this summer.

However, it could be argued that Portugal is an outlier on the issue of border controls, something which is backed up by its commitment to luring expats with tax breaks and moves to allow 180-day visa-free stays for British travellers.

What are the current passport protocols in Portugal?

Portugal no longer classifies Britain as a ‘third country’. This means UK travellers are able to make use of speedy e-gates rather than join non-EU travellers in the queue for manual checks. However, they must still get their passport stamped after passing through the e-gates as it is currently the only way to check a traveller’s length of stay. The expectation is that the move will still significantly cut queuing time.

This special channel can also be used by travellers from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan and the new rules are in operation at the following airports: Lisbon, Faro, Porto and Funchal in Madeira.

Do any other EU countries allow Britain to bypass ‘third country’ queues?

Currently, only Ireland allows British citizens to avoid passport-stamping due to the Common Travel Area agreement. However Cyprus has a similar system to Portugal in which British travellers can use e-gates and then have their passports speedily stamped by a border official.

Are there plans to change the EU’s current manual system?

The European Union will soon move to a more automated border-check system for all arrivals. While too late for summer holidays, the ‘Entry/Exit System (EES)’ will potentially be introduced by the end of this year and aims to “modernise the management of external borders by improving the quality and efficiency of external border controls.”

It will replace manual passport stamping with self-service kiosks which will record biometric data (fingerprints and facial images) and the date and place of entry and exit.

Whether this translates to a significantly more seamless experience for non-EU travellers remains to be seen but the move from man to machine generally speeds up processes – though not without teething problems, of course.