British residents flying home to Spain were prevented from boarding a joint BA / Iberia flight to Madrid on Saturday night after airline staff said their pre-Brexit accommodation was no longer valid.
A total of nine people are not allowed on board at Heathrow, including journalist and photographer Max Duncan, who told him that his green residence was no longer valid, although the Spanish and British governments both said the old Foreign National Identification . (NOT) document and the new Foreign ID Card (TIE) remain valid.
In a tweet from the British embassy in Madrid, Duncan was assured that the green paper was valid. ‘This should not happen“The Spanish government reaffirmed tonight that the green accommodation document will be valid for travel to return to Spain, as stated in our travel advice,” officials said via the embassy’s @ UKinSpain account.
Duncan tweeted in response: “Thank you @ukinspain for confirming that the green card is valid, that Spain reaffirmed it and that it should not happen.”
Duncan conducted an interview with a couple at the airport who said they were “absolutely struggling” after being told they had the wrong accommodation document and needed the TIE card. “We’re going home. Spain is home, “said the unidentified woman, adding that her husband had life-saving medication.
Another couple told the check-in desk that the green NO card was no longer valid. When they contacted the British embassy, they said that the staff had told them that they had received many calls about the problem.
It was not just the Madrid flight that was affected. A person with the handle @daisyqueen tweeted: ‘My daughter and her partner are touching. Was at Heathrow for 12 hours – refused to travel the initial BA flight to Barcelona, and then said he could travel tonight, just waiting to be refused as BA says passengers were returned from Barcelona. ”
The Spanish government announced last year that British citizens in Spain would receive a photo ID card in the light of Brexit that would replace the former resident document carried by EU citizens.
Tens of thousands of Britons have registered for the new card and the application process seems to have gone smoothly. However, there are no available dates to collect the card because the system is so overloaded.
The British embassy said on its Facebook page on Saturday night that it had received many messages from residents of the United Kingdom in Spain who did not yet have the necessary documentation. It said it had called for ‘greater flexibility’ from Spain in the cases of people who have not yet been able to collect their TIE card, students who had to resume their studies and those who may be caring for elderly or vulnerable family members.
There are about 300,000 British inhabitants in Spain, although the number may be much higher because many live outside the Spanish system.