Blame Covid-19 travel restrictions or Brexit, but whatever the cause, some British citizens trying to return to their homes in European countries this weekend were barred from boarding flights.
Airlines refused documents that before Brexit had been valid proof of the Britons’ status as residents in Spain, Italy and Germany, although Spanish authorities say the issue was resolved by mid-Sunday.
Tight travel restrictions, caused by a faster-spreading coronavirus variant in the UK, also highlight bureaucratic complexities after Britain’s departure from the 27-nation EU.
Spanish and British authorities said on Sunday that the green-coloured certificate of EU citizenship with a foreign national identification number issued by Madrid is still valid for British citizens living in Spain under the provisions after the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc on December 31.
But the travellers say British Airways and Iberia, which are part of the IAG group, refused to let them board for the past two days.
Iberia said late on Sunday that a communication from Spain’s border police on January 1 created “some confusion”, but it was later clarified.
British Airways did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
About 300,000 British citizens are registered as permanent residents in Spain, although before Brexit many more had been living full or part-time in the country without officially registering.
Patricia Moody, 69, a retiree who has lived in the southern Spanish town of Zurgena for almost four years, was among a group of at least nine people unable to board a BA-Iberia flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Madrid on Saturday.
Ms Moody said she and her husband, who she says needs to see his doctor back in Spain, have spent £1,900 ($2,600) on being tested for the virus, travelling to the airport and booking new tickets after they were refused boarding.
Their second attempt was also fruitless.
“Throughout all the months of negotiating Brexit, we were always assured that nothing would change for us.
“It’s horrendous and we are suffering because of their incompetence,” Ms Moody said of airlines and authorities in both countries.
After the discovery of the coronavirus variant in the UK, many European nations have banned all travel from the British isles except for their own nationals and UK citizens with residency.
Travellers to Pisa in Italy and Berlin have reported similar hurdles in boarding planes operated by Ryanair and Lufthansa, despite carrying documents that had been accepted by the Italian and German governments.
“This appears to be a case of UK airport staff not knowing what documents to accept or applying the rules more stringently than the German border police would,” said Matt Bristow, a spokesman for the British in Germany association of residents.
Spain has been introducing a system called Tie, which registers permanent foreign residents, but it is suffering a backlog because of the high number of requests.
Proof of application for Tie and the “green certificate” for EU citizens were still valid to travel for British residents under the new health restrictions in place until January 19, authorities told AP.
“This should not be happening,” the UK embassy in Spain said in a Facebook post.
“The Spanish authorities have today reconfirmed that the green residency document will be accepted for travel to return to Spain, as stated in our travel advice.”
But Sam Dakin, 32, an English teacher living in Barcelona for the past four years, and his partner, who has been in the Spanish city for eight years, said they needed more assurances before they could rebook flights.
The couple had been blocked from flying on Saturday morning despite carrying their certificate.
They were then were refused boarding on another flight on Saturday evening, which British Airways had initially said they could take.
“Just because the government adviser said that we could travel, we don’t know whether that will happen when we turn up at the counters,” Mr Dakin said.
“We just don’t know where we’re going to get answers.”
Spain’s Foreign Ministry said there had been “an isolated communication problem with some airlines that affected a very small number of travellers”.
It said that air traffic between the UK and Spain was proceeding “with normality” by mid-Sunday.
