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British residents flying to Spain were prevented from boarding a joint BA / Iberia flight to Madrid on Saturday night after airline staff said their pre-Brexit residency documents were no longer valid.
A total of nine people were unable to board at Heathrow, including journalist and photographer Max Duncan, who was told that his green residence document was no longer valid, despite both the Spanish and British governments having said the Old foreign nationality identification (NIE) and new foreign identification card (TIE) remain valid.
In a tweet from the British embassy in Madrid, Duncan assured himself that the Green Book was valid. “This shouldn’t be happening, the Spanish authorities have reconfirmed tonight that the green residence document will be valid to travel back to Spain as indicated in our travel notice ”, said the officials through the @UKinSpain account of the embassy.
Duncan tweeted in response: “Thank you @ukinspain for confirming that the green card is valid, that Spain has also reconfirmed it and that this should not be happening.”
Duncan interviewed a couple at the airport who said they were “absolutely devastated” after being told they had the wrong residency document and needed the TIE card. “We are going home. Spain is home,” the unidentified woman said, adding that her husband was running out of vital medications.
Another couple said that they were told at the check-in desk that the green NIE card was no longer valid. When contacted by the British embassy, they said that staff told them they had received many calls about the problem.
It wasn’t just the Madrid flight that was affected. A person with the nickname @daisyqueen tweeted: “My daughter and her partner were affected. I was at Heathrow for 12 hours – BA’s initial flight to Barcelona was denied and then told he could travel tonight so I waited only to be turned away as BA says passengers returned from Barcelona. “
The Spanish government announced last year that, in light of Brexit, British residents in Spain would receive a photo identification card that would replace the old residence document carried by EU citizens.
Tens of thousands of Britons have signed up for the new card and the application process appears to have gone smoothly. However, there are no dates available to withdraw the card because the system is very overloaded.
The British embassy said on its Facebook page late Saturday that it had received many messages from UK residents in Spain who still did not have the documentation they needed. He said that he had “requested greater flexibility” from Spain in the cases of people who had not yet been able to collect their TIE card, students who must resume studies and for those who may be in the care of elderly people or vulnerable relatives.
There are around 300,000 British residents in Spain, although the number may be much higher as many live outside the Spanish system.
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