BCN passport control delays
May 8, 2017, 5:07 am
#91
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 199
Landed yesterday at BCN.
I've never seen an immigration queue so long. It was so long walking down the empty corridor under the EU banner felt like we must have made a mistake. Luckily we hadn't and the queu for the automatic gates was only four or five deep. Took a wee while as we had the usual set of people unable to follow simple instruction.
One chap said "these things never work" I was tempted to point out that that might be because he doesn't remove his glasses.
I've never seen an immigration queue so long. It was so long walking down the empty corridor under the EU banner felt like we must have made a mistake. Luckily we hadn't and the queu for the automatic gates was only four or five deep. Took a wee while as we had the usual set of people unable to follow simple instruction.
One chap said "these things never work" I was tempted to point out that that might be because he doesn't remove his glasses.
May 8, 2017, 5:22 am
#92
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 847
Yes, though it seemed to be closed off when I was last there a few weeks ago [ and it didn't have any power sockets that I could find when I have used it before, but maybe I didn't look hard enough 
]
The other tip is the old smoking area ( large glassed off section at the back of the lounge ) .. it tends to be less busy and there are a few power sockets beside the armchairs against the wall furthest from the door there.
]The other tip is the old smoking area ( large glassed off section at the back of the lounge ) .. it tends to be less busy and there are a few power sockets beside the armchairs against the wall furthest from the door there.
On the plus side, I was through passport control in minutes - no queue at all.
May 8, 2017, 5:26 am
#93
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 847
You need to bear in mind that for some people removing their glasses means they can't actually see the display screen well enough to actually be able to see the instruction and/or to align their face properly. I always remember, for example, that I should have put my contact lenses in when stood in the queue for the gates. The gates are supposed to be able to cope with glasses.
May 8, 2017, 7:05 am
#94
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 469
May 8, 2017, 7:11 am
#95
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: BA, AA, SQ, UA, AC, WS, MR TIT
Posts: 8,659
Not surprised since it is one of the top five cities on any traveler wishlist to visit @:-)
May 8, 2017, 7:19 am
#96
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: BAEC (Gold), SPG (Lifetime Plat), Star Alliance, One World, Virgin (Gold)
Posts: 211
Barcelona - top 5 wish list - which one???
..and if it was that popular, you would think the authorities would make it more welcoming.
Businesses that keep people waiting, whether in the phone or in Q's, should consider the income that the Q's are producing...
..and if it was that popular, you would think the authorities would make it more welcoming.
Businesses that keep people waiting, whether in the phone or in Q's, should consider the income that the Q's are producing...
May 8, 2017, 7:37 am
#97
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 410
The problem is that a large part of Barcelona's population (and, to some extent, the actual authorities) are completely fed up with tourism and want to make a crackdown.
May 8, 2017, 7:44 am
#98
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: BAEC (Gold), SPG (Lifetime Plat), Star Alliance, One World, Virgin (Gold)
Posts: 211
That is the most ridiculous post I have ever read. Can you support the comment with a quote from the Barcelona authorities????
May 8, 2017, 8:15 am
#99
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,736
May 8, 2017, 8:24 am
#101
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,811
You mean like this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...tourists-away/
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ne...tish-d0vhr9tr3 (partial paywall)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...led-by-tourism
Airbnb and cruise ships aren't helping. My colleagues in Barcelona, sane, liberal middle-class and educated, have also articulated how fed up they are that a city a fraction of the size of London has just as many visitors.
May 8, 2017, 8:52 am
#102
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Aberdeen
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Accor Gold
Posts: 751
I'm en route ex BCN now. I was at the airport at 9, queue was 15 minutes then but we still had to wait about 15 minutes on the 1135 flight for missing passengers, so the queue must have got longer after I got through. Plus, as was mentioned above, the All Passports queue was quicker. Maybe not all the time but definitely today.
May 8, 2017, 9:11 am
#103
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 812
The current quarter of 2017 is quite a different beast than what was going on in 2014, 2015 and 2016 in terms of checks to enter and exit the Schengen zone.
Given Spain was already using an APIS regime well before the current quarter, Spain's relative nose-dive in service as a Schengen port of entry/exit is all the more noteworthy about the state of governmental process engineering to which the traveling public is subjected.
Given Spain was already using an APIS regime well before the current quarter, Spain's relative nose-dive in service as a Schengen port of entry/exit is all the more noteworthy about the state of governmental process engineering to which the traveling public is subjected.
Technological developments have made it possible, in principle, to consult relevant databases in such a way as to have a limited effect on the duration of border crossings, as the checks for both documents and persons can be carried out in parallel. Automatic border control gates could be relevant in that context. The use of passenger data received in accordance with Council Directive 2004/82/EC, or in accordance with other Union or national law, could also contribute to speeding up the process of carrying out the required checks during the border-crossing process. It is therefore possible to strengthen checks at external borders, without having a disproportionate negative effect on persons travelling in good faith, in order to better identify those persons who intend to hide their real identity or who are the subject of a relevant alert for security reasons or for arrest. Systematic checks should be carried out at all external borders.
May 8, 2017, 9:24 am
#104
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 410
http://www.huffingtonpost.es/2017/01..._14438728.html
http://www.byebyebarcelona.com/eldocumental
https://skift.com/2017/01/30/protest...ourism-growth/
http://www.cntraveler.com/story/barc...ourist-numbers
etc