Dozens of Brits were turned away at the airport after trying to board flights to Spain without the correct Covid-19 documents.
Passengers at East Midlands Airport were told they could not go on their pre-booked Ryanair flight to Malaga as they had no proof of Spanish residency, a restriction in place to prevent foreign travel and the spread of coronavirus.
Our sister titles The Mirror and Derbyshire Live report how 31 customers who had booked flights were refused travel to he amber-list destination on Friday.
From today the restrictions have been eased but residency paperwork was still required on Friday.
Spain has now opened its borders to visitors from countries that have low infection rates, including Britain.
A passenger from Derby, who did not wish to be named, explained what happened when they arrived at the airport.
He said: "When I arrived at the airport I was asked to go to the Ryanair gate to have my documents checked. I did not expect any issue as I had been very thorough in obtaining all the documents they required.
"I was met by a woman who informed people they would not be travelling unless they had a Spanish passport, proof of an application for residency or a letter from the UK Government saying the trip was essential.
"This led to anger, aggression and tears and three police officers had to oversee discussions. It was a truly shameful situation that caused great distress and large financial losses to some people.
"How we can have a validated form from the Spanish Travel Health government site allowing our entry and then be told this isn't sufficient? This was distressing for many people.
"Ryanair has all customers' email addresses and telephone numbers so they could have contacted all passengers 24 hours prior to travelling, so this really is shameful and I hope it doesn't happen to other UK travellers in the future."
A spokesman for East Midlands Airport said: "On Friday, May 21, 31 passengers were refused boarding onto a flight to Malaga for not having a Spanish residency permit.
"The decision, taken by the airline’s handling agent, was in line with the requirements of the Spanish authorities at the time.
“We encourage anyone planning to travel overseas to familiarise themselves with what is required of both the destination country and the UK’s regulations prior to booking flights."
Thousands of Brits were expected to jet to Spain today, defying Government warnings not to travel.
The country remains on the “amber” list under the Department for Transport’s traffic light system, and ministers have pleaded with passengers not to fly without a valid reason.
Arrivals to the UK from amber list countries must self-isolate at home for 10 days and take two coronavirus tests.
However, many lockdown-weary Brits are expected to head for the Costas anyway.
Flights from the UK to Spain are set to double to around 80 a day this week, carrying an estimated 16,000 passengers.
It means more than 100,000 tourists could be jetting to Spain over the next few days.
John Swinney, Scotland's new minister for Covid Recovery, today refused to rule out cancelling international travel for Scots, admitting the Indian variant is expected to become the dominant strain in Scotland.
Speaking to the BBC he said: "The B1617.2, so-called Indian variant, is going to become the dominant strain in Scotland.
"That is a new variant of concern and we don't know the course that this virus is going to take so we have to continue to exercise caution although there are very encouraging signs that the measures we've put in place, the levels of compliance and the success of the vaccination programme are putting us in a stronger position."
