Flying to Europe (Spain) with national ID from the UK

[Doctoralx]

I was almost denied entry to Lanzarote (Spain) using my EU national ID when flying from the UK. They said that post-Brexit they only accept passports for travellers from the UK despite the Spanish Government website saying that EU IDs are accepted for EU ctizens. I decided to put border control to a tough test and we had heated discussions for about one hour when I landed to Lanzarote. Border control and police could be simply clueless but they insisted on having a valid passport when travelling from the UK even for EU citizens. At the end I had to show them my British passport (I have dual citizenship) to move on with my day. Not sure what would have happened if I did not provide them with a passport but I doubt they would put me to a flight back to the UK since they would need to bring someone who really knows the rules.

That will also affect what are the rules for EU nationals travelling to Europe from the UK after the EU visa waiver kicks-in in early 2025. My understanding is that I should not need one if I presented my EU ID, but I have now second thoughts after my recent experience.

Does anybody have any similar experience?

Then why do I need to leave on same pasaport I came into my EU country. I assumed they kept track of in and outs

You would have to ask the immigration authorities of that country, who have sovereignty (!) when it comes to entries and exits. (The relationship between EU law and national law when it comes to crossing the Schengen border is very complex indeed.)

But in many EU countries I have seen border officials just wave people through (without swiping their passport/ID card) if things get busy — this use to happen a lot at the Eurotunnel terminal. Sometimes there would be nobody in the kiosk at the French bit. If they were serious about tracking everyone then it would be 100% systematic, and considering you can cross a lot of within-Schengen borders on foot along forest tracks, I don't think France (say) has much chance of knowing exactly which of its citizens are in the country at any one time.

For what it's worth, I know that the US insists that dual citizens must use their US passport to enter (and presumably leave) the US. But also there I don't think it's to track people. I don't think you have to show a passport at all when leaving the US, just as you don't for the UK.

My understanding is that you must have BOTH passports when travelling. My (adult) child has been told off for just having the British one before!

Why, and where does it state this? I've only ever travelled on my EU passport since my UK one lapsed several years ago and it's too much hassle to renew it.

Certain posters have indeed tried to enlighten you with their experiences. But even in similar circumstances you might well have a different experience.

"I decided to put border control to a tough test and we had heated discussions for about one hour "

You can believe your understanding of the rules is better than it was for border control staff, but the border control staff have the authority and discretion to seek additional documents if they think it is necessary.

Your "heated discussions" would have made the officer even more suspicious.

It seems to me that your national EU ID is not Spanish. You arrived in Spain from a non-EU country. One would expect some extra vigilance by EU border staff for such arrivals.

It is not a good idea to have "heated discussions" for an hour in such a situation. One ends up making a fool of oneself - having had to show your British passport in the end!!!!!!!!!!

Myself and others criticising your behaviour are actually taking the time to try and enlighten you on how not to waste other people's valuable time for a trivial matter on a "very infrequent" visit when you could just have shown your British passport and passed through in a couple of minutes.

The staff are paid to do their work, not to spend an hour to help you boost your ego while frustrated travellers waited behind.

It was certainly not an interesting experience and food for thought for either the immigration officer or for the travellers waiting behind.

Out of curiosity, what did the border staff say to you when you finally showed him/her your British passport?

"Flying to Europe (Spain) with national ID from the UK"

Your post only attracted my attention because of the misleading title - there is no national ID from the UK.

Your DP can travel through the EU line when travelling with you is my understanding @MadKittenWoman - www.thetimes.com/article/8d8be264-b44c-11ed-a25c-363828df3968?shareToken=ec363e3c8362b355424123d26f70b26d

I looked at the handbook that's mentioned in the article, which might be the one that's linked above and it seemed to be correct. I haven't managed to travel through an airport with separate queues yet with DD. (non EU) to check it out.