Will New Liquid Limits Affect Your Next Flight In Spain? What You Need To Know

Frequent fliers rejoiced at the news that they would no longer have to adhere to 100ml liquid limits when flying across Europe. But it seems like many of us celebrated too soon.

The European Commission has recently announced that it intends to temporarily reintroduce liquid limits in hand luggage for certain airports in Europe. Reversing the welcomed removal of these restrictions. So what does that mean if you live and fly in Spain? Or if you’re a traveller visiting the country?

Here’s what you need to know:

When Will The 100 ml Limits Be Reintroduced?

If you’ve travelled in Spain recently then you’ll know that some airports have already spent millions on new high-tech scanners and were beginning to phase them in so that travelers didn’t have to remove their liquids from their bags or be restricted by the size of their liquid containers.

But despite this hard work and investment, the European Commission are reintroducing limits on liquids, meaning that these new scanners can no longer be used.

The reason for this change of heart? Because concerns have been raised about the reliability of new EDSCB scanners installed in airports around the continent. And the primary concern for the EC, and for European governments (including Spains) is the safety and security of its people, which often begins at entry points such as airports.

It’s important to note that this change is due to a technical issue with the machines (and the risk this poses to security if they aren’t working correctly) rather than because of any specific security alert or risk.

In a press release that was released to announce this news the EC states: “The European Commission will temporarily enforce restrictions on liquid screening at EU airports utilising Explosive Detection Systems for Cabin Baggage (EDSCB).

“These systems, installed in certain EU airports, currently allow passengers to carry liquid containers exceeding 100ml.”

How Will This Impact You?

This new change will only impact you if you fly through Spanish airports at any point (which is almost all of us!) and only if you’re used to travelling through an airport that has already installed the new EDSCB scanners.

If your local airport hasn’t introduced these scanners yet then status quo will resume: everything will remain the same, so you probably won’t notice the change. But it does mean that you won’t be ditching those little 100 ml travel bottles any time soon!

The one thing that will still change is what you do with the electronic devices in your hand luggage. The EDSCB scanners also meant that you didn’t have to remove these from your bag when you passed through security, saving you time and reducing hassle too.

In good news, the EC temporary reversal of the liquid rules will not affect this, so you will still be able to take advantage of this time saving benefit.

When Will This Change Take Place?

If your airport has an EDSCB scanner then you can still use these – for the next few weeks at least! The change will come into affect on the 1st September 2024 and the European Commission statement says that  “Effective from 1 September 2024, the maximum allowed size for individual liquid containers will revert to the standard 100ml for airports operating this type of equipment.”

How Will This Change Impact Spanish Travellers Specifically?

This depends where you’re travelling from! The majority of Spanish travellers won’t be impacted at all as the scanners haven’t been installed in very many Spanish airports. The only 2 airports with these new scanners (at the time of writing) are  Madrid's Barajas and Barcelona's El Prat airports, where they have been undergoing trial periods over the summer.

So when the change comes in place on 1st September, most travelers in Spain simply won’t notice it at all! What we don’t know yet is how long this ‘temporary’ reversal of the 100 ml rules will remain in place for, so be prepared to continue limiting the liquids you carry when you travel for the foreseeable future!

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