‘Chaos’ for British tourists in Spain as IT failure causes huge queues at airports

British tourists returning from their summer holidays in Spain have been met with “chaos” at the country’s airports after a computer system failure. A major Microsoft outage has caused problems around the world, grounding flights and forcing GP surgeries to cancel appointments.

In Spain, a favorite holiday destination for UK travellers, tourists were stuck in long queues and hit by flight delays, while others complained of a lack of communication. Spanish airport operator Aena said the IT failure was expected to cause delays at airports across the country.

In Palma, Majorca’s main airport, huge queues were reported at check-in counters, while some airlines, including Ryanair, told passengers on flights booked on Friday to arrive at the airport three hours in advance. One passenger wrote on social media: “Nothing is working – you can’t get into the car park or buy water.”

Read more: Antler bag ‘perfect size’ for Ryanair and EasyJet flights now £42 off and fans say ‘so practical’

Another tourist who was stuck in a ninety-minute queue said check-in procedures were carried out manually, while a couple from Birmingham told Spanish news site Majorca Daily Bulletin: “We- I thought it would be a malfunction at the counters, but when I arrived and saw that there was a problem throughout the airport.”

Others claimed they were left queuing for two hours, while others complained they were not warned of the disruption before arriving at the airport and “only found out by accident”. One passenger on Twitter wrote: “I know I’ve been stuck in a massive queue at Palma airport for two and a half hours and still haven’t checked in my bags.”

As of 11:00 a.m., Aena reported that it had begun recovering some of its systems after suffering the effects of the Microsoft crash. He posted on X: “Aena is progressively recovering systems after a global IT incident.

“All network airports in Spain are operational and flights are being operated in collaboration with the airlines. The day’s schedule is being met, albeit with some delays. Some airlines are rescheduling their operations.”