Airlines warn passengers of long queues at Malaga Airport due to passport checks at border control

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Ryanair is urging passengers on flights from the Costa del Sol to turn up earlier due to such delays, something that appears to have worstened due to the Christmas holiday traffic

Ignacio Lillo

Malaga

Monday, 29 December 2025, 16:00

"Please be advised that longer queues are being recorded at passport control at Spanish airports due to the introduction of the EES (Entry/Exit System) for passengers travelling to destinations outside the Schengen area." Such is the opening line to the message that Ryanair emailed to Juan shortly before his flight from London to Malaga the weekend before Christmas.

In the email, the budget airline recommends that passengers arrive at the terminal with "extra time" before their flight and that they "go directly to security and passport control after dropping off their luggage to avoid any hold-ups".

In its usual style, the Irish airline openly accuses whom it believes is to blame for causing the problem: "The Spanish National Police were not adequately prepared for the EES rollout and Ryanair has asked them to resolve the issue."

Fifty minutes to get through passport control

So, forewarned is forearmed, so they say. However, Juan and his partner, both residents of Malaga, could not avoid the delays. This all happened the weekend before last, with the airports across Spain packed with Spanish nationals returning from overseas to be home for Christmas plus many more flying off for a weekend getaway.

The latter was Juan's travel plan: a Christmas getaway to Dublin. On the outbound flight on the Thursday, he encountered "queues like I'd never seen before", although, on this leg of the journey, they were "relatively bearable". The return trip was another ball game - much worse: "On Sunday night, the flight arrived on time, but getting out of the airport was a nightmare."

According to this passenger, at the time there were only five police officers dealing with hundreds of passengers. "Although they were moving quite quickly, there were just so many people to get through. Furthermore, the self-service kiosks were only operating for non-EU passengers and therefore many of them were not in use."

In the end, he claimed that they had to endure a 50-minute queue to get through passport control and leave. He also complained about the general disorganisation and lack of information, as there were hardly any airport staff to help people.

The National Police response

Both the Spanish government's sub-delegation in Malaga and the National Police have responded to Ryanair's claim. A spokesperson for the police force stated: "The explanations the airline is providing to its passengers are incorrect."

"The National Police are more than prepared for the implementation of the EES, but queue management is not the responsibility of this force, but rather of Aena, the Spanish airports authority. The delays in accessing airports and, consequently, the terminals for boarding are not the result of some malfunction or shortage of our officers."

Meanwhile, central government representatives in Malaga stated that, since October, they have been "testing the new system for only a minimal time period throughout the day and results have been very satisfactory, except for a few isolated incidents".

"We will not be provoked by this airline, well-known for its abusive treatment of its customers, which is why it has been sanctioned by the Spanish government to protect our consumers. Neither will we tolerate or allow it to call into question the professionalism of the National Police," warned the spokesperson.

One in four Ryanair passengers in Malaga will travel to the UK over the festive period

The situation could still become even more complicated over what's left of the festive season. As Ryanair has also reported, the United Kingdom is the top destination country for those flying from Malaga Airport these holidays. A passport is required to enter and leave the UK and, therefore, passengers must pass through security checks that are triggering more complaints. Some 24% of passengers flying abroad with the airline this Christmas have chosen British destinations, with London topping the list. Germany and Italy are the next most popular destinations, with Dusseldorf, Berlin, Milan and Rome the favourite cities to visit within these countries. Another popular destination, which also requires passing through passport control, is Dublin, followed by Brussels, Budapest and Vienna for their traditional Christmas markets. Ryanair offers a winter schedule from the Costa del Sol airport that includes 83 routes, 22 international destinations and more than 430 weekly flights, including cities that are not very popular on the tourist circuit such as Lubeck, Brno, Ostrava and Pardubice, among others.