British holidaymakers wanting some time away in the sun are facing chaotic scenes in Malaga Airport after being held in "standstill" queues in sweltering temperatures.
Witnesses claimed on Monday some frustrated tourists had taken matters “into their own hands” after being forced to wait “forever” to be waived through by police and other officials checking passenger locator forms.
Angry Spaniards were filmed shouting ‘Fuera fuera’ - ‘Get Out Get Out’ in English - amid reports they had knocked down barriers to leave the arrivals area as astonished travellers from the UK looked on.
Jim Ramsden, one of the Brits who posted footage of the chaos on social media, said in response to questions about claims it was exuberant teenagers returning home from a trip away: “It was arrivals at 11.30pm last night and it was all nationalities who just got fed up standing in a queue that wasn’t moving.”
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Suffering traveller Mejulie Traynor, who was also in the queue, added: “I was there too but I behaved myself and queued for an hour.”
Another Brit caught up in the late-night chaos branded the scenes “crazy.”
The noise levels appeared to catch many of the Brits by surprise.
One was overheard muttering under his breath as he watched the passenger revolt:” They’ve given up waiting haven’t they? People are just going for it.
“Shall we join them? Am I going to get shot by a Spanish policeman if I do.”
Several officials appeared to be trying to restore order by blowing their whistles amid the tourist surge at the airport, one of Spain’s busiest passenger airports at this time of the year.
A woman could also be heard shouting ‘Me Too’ repeatedly in broken English as she appeared to row with queue-jumpers.
Traveller Pierce O’Riordan, tweeting footage of new arrivals on escalators as they waited their turn to be seen, raged: “At an absolute standstill here in Malaga airport.
“The queue hasn’t moved for 15 minutes and it is boiling.”
Another witness, Rachel O’Shea also tweeted a video of the long queues, writing in a sarcastic message along the footage: “Welcome to Covid screening @MalagaAirport ” before adding: “Minutes later people knocked down the barriers. Absolute carnage.”
Angry Spaniards could be overheard shouting, in reference to the complete lack of social distancing: “There’s no Covid here is there!” and “Shame on you” in an apparent rage at officials processing the health forms.
There was no immediate comment from airport chiefs.
The chaos came on the back of ongoing problems at London’s Heathrow Airport.
A pregnant woman was said to have fainted on Sunday as OAPS and families with babies were forced to queue for up to five hours during a fifth day of Heathrow chaos amid issues with eGates.
Rob Sim, a Brit who touched down at Malaga Airport about half an hour after the distressing scenes were filmed, said: “I was there about half an hour later. Huge Guardia Civil presence.
“Took forever to get through. It was people not having filled in passenger locator forms.”
John Blackman added: “Obviously need more staff and desks to handle the volume of travellers but not prepared to pay for it.
“Can’t blame people for taking the law into their own hands.”
Malaga Airport, officially Malaga-Costa del Sol airport since June 2011, is the gateway to the popular Brit sunshine getaway of the Costa del Sol which is also home to hundreds of thousands of British expats.
It is the fourth business airport in Spain after Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.
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