The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) has fully operational modules of the new European Entry and Exit System (EES, for its acronym in English) at the ports of Algeciras and Tarifa. The infrastructure has required an investment of 14 million euros, co-financed by the European Union through the Financial Support Instrument for Border Management and Visa Policy (IGFV), covering 75% of the investment and 100% of the current expenditure assumed by Brussels.
The modules are the main novelty of the Operation Crossing of the Strait 2026 (OPE 2026) and their deployment has forced a redesign of the flow management within the port areas, from the reception area to the passport control managed by the National Police. The APBA has created new specific areas to direct vehicles affected by the system and separate them from the general pre-boarding circuit.
The EES is mandatory for non-EU citizens without residence in the European Union who are heading to board towards Morocco: in the case of the Port of Algeciras, to Tangier Med; in the case of Tarifa, to Tangier Ville. At the established control points, these travelers must provide their biometric data before boarding with the vehicle, a process that until the entry into force of the system this year was not required in the Strait corridor.
The data provided by the spokesperson of the APBA, Manuel Sánchez Alcázar, during the visit this morning with the media to one of the modules installed at the Port of Algeciras, indicates that so far in the OPE, 3% of the vehicles boarding from the facility meet these requirements. The rest of the users follow the usual itinerary of reception, control, and pre-boarding, without passing through the new system's points.
The project has been developed by INETUM Spain, which has executed the modules and will assume their maintenance for the next three years. The company TME provides auxiliary personnel to support the National Police, the body responsible for passport control at the external border points of the Schengen area. The distribution of tasks separates the technological management of the system, in the hands of the contractor, from the police control itself, which remains a state competence.
The EES modules also received today the visit of members of the Provincial Committee of the OPE 2026, a coordinating body of the administrations involved during the weeks of highest traffic between both shores of the Strait. The president of the Port Authority, Gerardo Landaluce, has highlighted the effort made in recent months to have the EES equipment and personnel fully operational from the start of the OPE device.
The EES is a computerized system of the European Union created by Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 and designed to register the entry and exit of nationals from third countries in the Schengen area. It replaces the manual passport stamping with the electronic registration of the traveler's data, including biometric identifiers, as well as the date and place of crossing. Its entry into force this year requires all external border points of the Union, be they air, land, or maritime, to implement the new procedure and adapt their infrastructures.
In the Strait corridor, the adaptation has particular relevance due to the volume of traffic that the OPE concentrates each summer between Europe and Morocco. The APBA has adjusted the deployment schedule so that the modules in Algeciras and Tarifa come into full operation during the peak season. European funding through the IGFV covers both the initial investment in equipment and the current operational expenses, a scheme that reduces the budgetary burden of the deployment on the Port Authority.