Spain denies entry to elderly British woman over missing 'exit stamp' on passport

An elderly woman from the United Kingdom was not allowed to enter Spain over a post-Brexit issue on her passport. Linda, 72, was travelling from Gibraltar to Spain to visit her son, however, she was stopped at the border due to issues with her passport, reported The Local. Reportedly, the authorities in Spain barred her entry as her passport did not have an exit stamp from a previous trip.

After the Brexit, people from the UK are required to have entry and exit stamps on their passports whenever they travel in and out of the Schengen area, as per The Local report. The passport authorities had reportedly forgotten to stamp her passport when she had visited the country in June.

She was not allowed to enter Spain from Gibraltar by border officials as they suspected that she had exhausted 90 out of her quota of 180 days in Spain and the Schengen area.

Britain woman denied entry to Spain

Linda told The Local that she was not permitted to enter Spain on September 26 as her passport was not stamped when she left Spain after a one-week visit, which started on June 4. She added that the officials had stamped her passport for entry, however, they later spotted that the passport did not have an exit stamp from her trip in June, and barred her from entering Spain.

Furthermore, she mentioned that she can prove her return to the UK with her bank account activity and COVID test application. She informed that her son tried to explain to the border officials and even tried to show the proof. However, the border officials did not consider it.

Even after a month since the incident, the situation for Linda is still the same as the Spanish consulate in the UK will only accept boarding cards as proof of exit and she had booked her flight online and she did not have them. She further added that she has other proofs but the authorities would not consider them.

Linda has tried contacting her MP over the issue but she was just sent back to the consulate, reported The Local. 

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