Brexit row blocks expat Britons’ flights to EU

Britons living in EU countries have been barred from flying home after Christmas in a post-brexit residency row. Britons returning to Spain and Italy were barred from getting on to flights after being told that their pre-brexit “green cards” were not valid for entry. The problems began on Saturday when border officials at airports refused to recognise the documents, despite Spanish and Italian governments saying that they should be treated as valid for entry.

BRITONS living in EU countries have been barred from flying back after Christmas in a post- Brexit row over residency.

Britons returning to Spain and Italy after their Christmas holidays were either turned back on arrival or barred from getting on to flights after being told that their “green cards”, issued preBrexit, were no longer valid for entry.

The problems began on Saturday when border officials at airports in Madrid and Barcelona refused to recognise the documents, despite declarati ons by the Spanish and Italian governments that they should be treated as valid for entry.

Instead, border officials insisted on refusing entry to anyone without a postBrexit photo-id residency card, which many Britons living in those countries have applied for but not yet received.

As a result, British passengers on at least two flights to Barcelona were turned back on arrival and had to return to the UK. Airlines can be fined if they allow people to fly to a country without the right documentation.

At least nine people were prevented from boarding a Ba-iberia flight from Heathrow to Madrid on Saturday night despite having pre-brexit green cards.

One, Patricia Moody, a 69-year-old retiree living in the Spanish town of Zurgena, said, referring to the airlines and authorities in both countries: “It’s horrendous and we are suffering because of their incompetence.”

A further 30 people were blocked from flying to Pisa from Manchester, including Dr Caitlin Procter, a professor at the European University Institute in Florence. She was told she must have an Italian passport or a new photo-id residency card when she tried to board her Ryanair flight, even though the Italian government had been “crystal clear” that it would recognise green cards. She also had a copy of her contract.

“It’s a rude wake-up to Brexit,” she said. “There are no other direct flights to Pisa for weeks, and I will have to pay £160 again for another Covid test as the one I have won’t be valid from Monday, which is when I am due back at work.”

Dr Procter said she had applied for the photo-id card but there was a threemonth backlog of applications.

Another British traveller who was turned back on arrival at Barcelona, said: “All Spanish and Andorran nationals were let through and all other passengers herded like cattle to the side.

“The police then started checking all the green cards. It quickly escalated to the police telling everyone they must board the plane and fly back to London.”

The British embassy intervened on Saturday, as the refusal of entry amounted to a potential breach of the Withdrawal Agreement.

A Foreign Office spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: “The Spanish embassy in London has reconfirmed today that both the green residence certificate and the new residence TIE [photo-id] card are equally valid in terms of proving residence in Spain, as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement.”

The Spanish embassy also confirmed it would recognise the pre-brexit green cards and promised a seven-day grace period from Jan 4 to allow anyone to travel to Spain who could show they had applied for the new photo-id card.

Around 300,000 Britons are registered as permanent residents in Spain.