British holidaymakers left furious after new EU border checks cause delays across Spanish airports

HOLIDAYMAKERS are being warned of potential lengthy delays at European airports this summer after border checks were tightened.

Passengers have been forced to wait in queues for up to four hours after arriving at popular airports such as Madrid, Mallorca, Barcelona and Malaga.

Social media erupted with complaints about waiting at passport control for hours upon arriving at their destination.

@SimonCalder queues for passport control at Palma airport this morning – what a farce! pic.twitter.com/cIunShy9r6

— Catherine Little (@calittle1967) July 29, 2017

#easyJet shambles Malaga airport never flying again. Treated like cattle pic.twitter.com/Oys8pYGvCN

— Richy conway (@RichyConway) July 31, 2017

The problem is being blamed on the introduction of stricter border controls due to the Schengen Agreement, the border free area that most EU member states are a part of.

Usually, British travellers could pass through with only visual passport checks, but new rules – introduced after a series of terror attacks in Europe – means anyone from a non-Schengen country is checked against a database.

Some airlines are also suggesting that airports have not brought in enough staff to try to minimise the effect of the new rules.