Travel Documents for your Mallorca Holiday: How to Avoid Getting Turned Away at the Boarding Gate
Wednesday, April 27th, 2022
After two years of Covid restrictions and “staycations”, 2022 is the year when most people are keen to start travelling again. You might have already booked your Mallorca holiday and, without a doubt, are very much looking forward to some long-awaited relaxation and fun in the sun. To make sure that everything can go ahead as planned, now is a good time to start preparing your travel documentation – you don’t want to get caught out by some formality you might have overlooked!
Covid entry requirements
Covid travel restrictions have been relaxed, however, most countries, including Spain and the island of Mallorca still have some additional entry requirements in place. These differ, depending on the country you are travelling from and they also have the annoying habit of changing fairly frequently. It is therefore advisable to check before you book, to make sure that you fulfil all the requirements (e.g. valid Covid vaccination or equivalent) and to keep an eye on any potential changes in the run-up to your holiday. Please see the link at the bottom of this article for more detailed information on this topic.
Passport validity
While you are busy familiarising yourself and keeping up-to-date with the latest Covid rules for travel, it is all too easy to forget about your “standard” travel documentation. And you wouldn’t be the first to discover at the last minute that your passport, which has been gathering dust over the last two years, has actually expired and is no longer of any use to you!
One particular pitfall for British holidaymakers is the fact that the passport and visa requirements for travel to Europe changed when the Brexit transition period came to an end on 31/12/2020. As far fewer Brits have travelled abroad during the last year, this has gone largely unnoticed and many are only just starting to become aware of it now.
You may have heard or read some accounts of people who had been looking forward to their Easter break with great excitement, only to be turned away at the airport at the last minute, as their passport was no longer meeting the criteria required for travel. And to add insult to injury, in cases like this, your airline or tour operator is under no obligation to offer you a refund or voucher. So, not only could you be missing out on your long-awaited holiday, but you could also be left considerably out of pocket.
So what are the new criteria for travelling to Mallorca with a British passport? Unfortunately, this still seems to be a matter of debate. The official websites for the UK government and the EU advise the following: On the day after you leave Spain, your passport needs to be valid for at least 3 more months and be less than 10 years old.
It is important that your passport fulfils both criteria. If your passport was renewed early, some additional months may have been added to its expiry date. Your passport may therefore still be valid for 3 months on the day of your return from Mallorca, but may already be more than 10 years old from the date of issue, so it is worth double-checking!
In slight contradiction to this advice, some airlines and tour operators are currently requesting your passport to be valid for 6 months or more at the time of travel, so please also double-check your airline’s requirements and make sure your passport doesn’t fall short of these.
While all of this might sound a little complicated, don’t be discouraged! It’s far less complex than it seems and it’s mostly a matter of timely preparation. Once you have got your travel documentation shipshape, you should be ready to set off on that well-deserved holiday. Mallorca is looking forward to seeing you!
For more information on these topics, please also see our pages:
What Covid-19 documentation is required on arrival at Palma de Mallorca Airport?
Brexit – Travel between the UK and Mallorca
