For many visitors, Tenerife is an island of sunshine, tranquility, and comfort. However, those who tried to return home via Tenerife South Airport in recent days were faced with a very different reality. Serious problems have once again arisen at passport control, with long queues, missed flights, and growing frustration among tourists. According to recent Spanish reports, travelers are even sharing tips with each other on social media to somewhat navigate the chaos. This mainly affects British travelers, although it is certainly not exclusively their problem.
The core of the problem
The root of the issue lies in the biometric passport systems. Travelers complain that the machines frequently fail when scanning fingerprints, significantly slowing down the flow. Diario de Avisos reports that passengers describe a single queue serving multiple flights at once, while only a limited number of control points were actually operational. Some tourists stated that they arrived well in advance but still missed their flights because they could not get through passport control in time.
The situation escalated particularly around March 20, when bad weather caused by storm depression Therese further disrupted normal operations. Flight delays and cancellations added extra pressure on the terminal, causing queues to grow even longer. According to Spanish reports, around one hundred passengers were forced to remain at the airport that day after missing their connections. In some cases, stranded travelers were unable to find hotel accommodation at the last minute and had to spend the night in the terminal.
Recurring issues
On social media, one piece of advice keeps coming up repeatedly: arrive at least three hours in advance at the airport. This is striking, as Tenerife South had long been considered a relatively well-organized departure point for many European travelers. Now, the opposite seems to be true. A tourist destination that heavily depends on its international accessibility can hardly afford such scenes. A phrase frequently seen online, according to Diario de Avisos, sums up the sentiment: “I love Tenerife, but I hate the airport.”
That these problems are not entirely new is evident from earlier Spanish reports. At the end of February, the same newspaper reported that at one point only 5 out of 36 new passport machines were operational. Even then, there was talk of a “complicated” transition phase in passport control at the airport. The recent incidents therefore indicate that this is not a one-off disruption, but an issue that has been ongoing for some time.
Is improvement on the way?
For residents, winter visitors, and frequent travelers to Tenerife, this is more than just a piece of holiday news. Tenerife South is the island’s main international gateway. When structural delays occur there, it affects not only tourists but also Tenerife’s reputation as a reliable and welcoming destination. The coming weeks will show whether the responsible authorities can quickly improve operations, before the busy spring and summer season fully begins.
Photo: Pixabay
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