Clearing immigration and passport control in Madrid

Hiii I haven't been in Madrid recently unfortunately, but I do know that the ETIAS form isnt required until the final quarter of 2026. They havent released the official date yet, but I wouldn't think it would start being required until October.

Customs is usually just a walk through.

Immigration, however, depends on many factors. No one can predict how long it will take.

Immigration/Passport Control and Customs are two different things. Immigration/Passport Control is for people. Customs if for your staff.

You may think this is being nitpicky. But if you ask a European about customs, they will answer your question about customs and not immigration.

It took me less than 5 minutes when arriving in Madrid in March. It all depends on many flights arrive at the same time and if all the EES machines are working.

You can read the details of my experience in my trip report:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/we-love-spain-a-trip-report

Haven’t passed through Madrid since EES, but prior to that there were times it took 20 minutes to clear immigration while the longest it took was 1.5 hours.

Last month we went through Málaga and once we registered with EES, it took about a minute to clear immigration. For me EES registration worked fine. For my wife, the machine couldn’t read her fingerprints three times, so she had to go to a manned booth. That too took about a minute since most people were using the e-gates.

ETIAS isn’t active yet, so you couldn’t register even if you wanted to.

Took about 5 minutes for me on an ~8am arrival flight at MAD. I don’t know why it would take hours in any situation. You’re from a visa waiver country entering the EU as a tourist. They just need to scan your passport, take a picture and some fingerprints. The other passengers on your flight are in the same boat.

Late April went really quick mid morning on a weekday.

Thanks all for you responses.