“If this means paying for additional documents or extra travel time, that’s going to impact my budget and I am sure my parents will not approve of me coming home as much as I wanted to,” said 18-year-old IE student, Luna Maravic, from France.
France reintroduced Schengen border checks for air, water, and land travel on Nov. 1, 2024. This means all travelers will have to show some form of identification and is expected to impact all travelers across Europe, especially those from neighboring countries like Spain. The decision was based on security concerns and increased migration pressures.
Nina Crljen, a senior in Croatia, is concerned about traveling to France and Spain, which before, she could do often and with no issue.
“Since Croatia, Spain and France are close I never had to worry about not seeing my friends that live there for a long time,” said Crljen. “I don’t think these border checks are necessary as we became a part of Schengen for a reason.” She also noted that direct flights from Croatia are rare, and transfers usually go smoothly.
“Now, I’ll definitely have to plan extra time for all the border checks between flights, which means I’ll travel less and won’t have the patience for it,” Crljen added.
Nolan Vaszily, an international student from Philadelphia, said that the main thing he liked about Europe was how close and accessible all the countries are.
“I was planning on staying in Europe and traveling to different countries during Christmas break and now I am worried about how that will be due to my American visa,” Vazily said. He believes that these border checks will not only make his travel harder but for all USA citizens as it causes anxiety and worry.
“Some of my friends including myself have an expired visa but a confirmation paper that we are allowed to stay in Spain,” said Vaszily. “Before, we could pass the border with only our confirmation papers. Now I don’t know if that will be possible.”
Similarly, the anxiety rose in Spanish resident Marcos Orgaz from Boadilla del Monte.
“I heard stories about people getting stopped and questioned because of some small document issues,” said Orgaz. “I’m scared the same thing will happen to me and I won’t know how to handle it.”
Carlos Salto, a 20-year-old Spanish resident, said he worried the new checks would complicate his trips for winter and Easter breaks.
“We were supposed to go to Paris during December but now we will have to see what that will look like,” said Salto. According to Salto, the implementation of border checks will cause most problems during the holiday season. “The borders are already a mess during Christmas because everyone travels and this was before the checks,” says Salto.
