Portugal and Italy now refuse to scrap hated EU border checks despite travel chaos for British tourists

Portugal and Italy have refused to scrap EU border checks despite the threat of travel chaos for British tourists.

There were reports earlier this week that the two countries would follow Greece in suspending the new Entry/Exit system (EES).

The system, introduced across the Schengen area last month, resulted in delays which British passengers described as "mayhem".

Greece had already suspended the system - which requires biometric checks when entering the zone - for British travellers until September.

Despite talks that Italy would emulate Greece, the European Commission confirmed that both Portuguese and Italian airports would not suspend the system.

Seamus McCauley, of travel firm Holiday Extras, said European countries reliant on tourism could have no choice but to follow Greece's move to suspend the EES.

He said: "Countries are not going to sit back and let Greece take their trade because they won't face EES delays at airports.

"To do so would be politically toxic as jobs are on the line."

Describing the rollout of the system as a "fiasco", he added that British tourism was worth £3billion to Greece.

And Chief Operation Offier of Ryanair Neil McMahon said: "Governments are attempting to roll out a half-baked IT system in the middle of the busiest travel season.

"Passengers are paying the price, being forced to endure hours-long passport control queues and in some cases missing flights. The solution is simple - governments should suspend EES until September."

The system was first introduced in October 2025 before rolling out to the Schengen area, which includes 25 of the EU's 27 member states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

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Travellers across Europe were impacted by the change, with Alicante Airport, one of Spain's busiest, "pushed to breaking point", local police said.

Michelle Maguire, 38, travelling home from Malaga to Liverpool, only made home 24 hours late and was left £1,000 out of pocket.

And Stuart MacLennan, 49, from Oban in Scotland, said his flight from Malaga to Glasgow resulted in three-and-a-half hour delay for those with children under 12.

He said he was likely to avoid busier European airports in the future as a result of EES.

Dylan Thomas, 23, an HR associate from Lincolnshire, said his return journey from Brussels on the Eurostar was "ridiculous".

"There must have been about 20 machines, but they all had plastic wrapping on them and couldn’t be used … There was only one person manually checking everyone," Mr Thomas said.

Dave Giles, 47, an IT manager from Raunds in Northamptonshire, missed his flight home on 12 April from Copenhagen.

He told The Guardian: "When they called the gate and we got down towards passport control, there was a queue of probably 80 to 100 people in front of us and only three kiosks checking passports. Before long, one of those closed."

Forced to pay out of pocket to make up for the disruption, he said he paid over £2,000 for replacement flights, accommodation for the night, and extra parking charges at Stansted.