By Bethany Gavaghan,Courtney Eales

Copyright walesonline

While the summer holidays may have drawn to a close in the UK, it doesn’t mean families aren’t squeezing in a few more getaways to round off the season. As children return to school , holiday prices take a dip, and many people seize the opportunity to snap up a bargain. Spain remains a firm favourite amongst UK tourists . The country offers a Mediterranean climate with abundant sunshine, mouth-watering cuisine, and historical sites aplenty. Compared to other tourist hotspots, Spain is also generally seen as a pocket-friendly destination. We all yearn for our holidays to go off without a hitch, from the moment we set off for the airport until we touch down back on UK soil. However, there are times when a dream holiday can quickly turn sour. For the biggest stories in Wales first, sign up to our daily newsletter here Spain adheres to Schengen area regulations, which stipulate that your passport must bear a ‘date of issue’ less than ten years prior to your arrival date. If you renewed your passport before October 1, 2018, it might have an issue date that exceeds this ten-year limit, reports the Liverpool Echo . Your passport also needs to have an ‘expiry date’ at least three months beyond the day you plan to depart the Schengen area (the expiry date does not need to fall within 10 years of the issue date). Today, the Schengen area spans over 4 million square kilometres, housing a population of over 450 million across 29 countries. The Schengen agreement facilitates the free movement of millions of people between member states, eliminating the need for border checks. The Foreign Office advises that before you set off, ensure your passport and other travel documents meet the necessary requirements as stipulated by your travel provider. Failure to present a valid travel document or attempting to use a reported lost or stolen passport will result in denied entry. Visa-free travel to the Schengen area, which includes Spain, is permitted for up to 90 days within any 180-day period. This applies under certain conditions:. However, the regulations for working in Spain differ. As a visitor, border officials will scrutinise your entry and exit stamps to verify you haven’t exceeded the 90-day visa-free limit for the Schengen zone. Upon arrival at Spanish border control, you may be required to present:. From October 12, travellers heading to parts of Europe, including Spain, will encounter significant changes at the airport due to the European Union’s (EU) new Entry/Exit System (EES). For short stays, when entering and exiting the Schengen area, you may need to provide fingerprints and a photo, and answer the Schengen Border Code questions. The EES process might add a few extra minutes to each passenger’s journey, so be prepared for potentially longer waits at the border once the system is operational. There’s no need to take any action prior to arriving at the border, and there are no costs associated with EES registration. According to advice on Gov.uk: “After it is fully implemented, EES registration will replace the current system of manually stamping passports when visitors arrive in the EU .”