My wife and I will be traveling to Spain from the US in January 2026. From what I can gather, and it is still somewhat confusing, we will need to apply for ETIAS. However, we will be entering Spain from Germany, and Germany (I think) will not require ETIAS until later in the year. I think, but am not sure how this goes. If I enter Spain from Germany (by plane) do I still need to fulfill the Spain ETIAS requirements? Additionally, do we submit our ETIAS applications before we book flights and hotels or after? From what I understand (I think) on on the possible "asks" is for hotel information, information on return flights, and possibly (possibly) proof of health/travel insurance. Can we book flights without applying for ETIAS and without problems? I know this will all work out (eventually) and be a smooth process, but the rollout (different countries at different times) is a bit confusing. Thanks for any information and advise you may have.
Posted by
Freedonia
18066 posts
ETIAS will not be operating in January. There is still no official starting date. (The earliest will be the fourth quarter of 2026.)
When it is active, you will need it to enter Schengen. It doesn't matter which country you enter or visit. It's for all of Schengen.
You'll hear a lot more about it once an official date is announced.
Here is more information on ETIAS:
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias/about-etias/what-is-etias
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17666 posts
Allen, according to the official website, ETIAS will not begin operations until the last quarter of 2026 (IF then) so you shouldn't need it at all for a trip this winter.
Posted by
NY
603 posts
First and most important point -- ETIAS is not yet live. It will not go live until Q4 2026, and that's if there are no further delays.
What you might be thinking of is the Entry/Exit System (EES), which is live. But there is nothing for you active to do here -- just follow the instructions of the border control when you get to the airport.
As you're traveling during the "transition period," they may direct you to use the EES kiosks or they might still skip it entirely. In either case, there is nothing for you to do beforehand and nothing to apply for.
Posted by
Arctophilia, Northamptonshire, England
35949 posts
and definitely nothing to spend money on, even if you see advertising posing as advice elsewhere on the internet - they will simply want your money.
When it goes live eventually you won't be able to miss it.
Posted by
234 posts
I flew into Madrid Barajas Airport a couple weeks ago and they had the EES computer kiosks on the way to passport control but they weren’t functioning yet.
Not really something to worry about anyway.
Posted by
OP
Mahopac, New York, USA
53 posts
Thanks, everyone for you replies. The only reason I ask is that I thought I read that Spain will be rolling out the system before other countries. Online advise is unclear. Thanks again.
Posted by
2 posts
There are two systems being introduced. One is EES, the Entry Exit System. This is a biometric tracking system for all visitors to the Schengen Zone and will replace passport stamps. EES is slowly being rolled out over the next year.
Only once EES is running at all Schengen points of entry will ETIAS be enforced.