On the first weekend since the Brexit transition phase ended, UK residents of Spain seeking to return to their homes have been wrongly turned away by British Airways staff at Heathrow as they prepared to fly home.
With the ending of the transition, British passport holders are no longer granted automatic access to the European Union. In addition, Spain – in common with many other EU countries – is imposing tough rules to try to minimise the spread of coronavirus.
Only Spanish nationals and legal residents of Spain are allowed to board flights from the UK until 19 January.
British people who live in Spain are required to carry one of two documents demonstrating their right to travel: either a green EU residence certificate or a tarjeta de identidad de extranjero (TIE), a new biometric residency card specifically for Spain.
They must also have a PCR test for coronavirus within 72 hours of arrival in Spain.
But passengers booked on several British Airways flights say they were…
