Passport control between Spain and Portugal?

[sillydoll]

Is there a passport control between Spain and Portugal? When you cross from France to Spain from St Jean to Roncesvalles there are no checks, but are there checks between Spain and Portugal?

 

[indyinmaine]

Nothing. It's all under the same umbrella, Europe.

 

[ManyMiles2Go]

We drove from Santiago to Fatima (Portugal) last year, no passports required. Funny thing was we flew from US to France, walked into and across Spain, drove to Portugal and back to Spain, took a train to France, and our return flight from France went through Germany ? (not sure why, wrong direction). My passport got stamped when we arrived in France, stamped again because we changed planes in Germany, and then back home in USA. Visited 3 countries when we were in Europe and I got a Germany stamp in my passport because of a 2 hour layover there Never got out of the airport

 

[alansykes]

No passport control but, weirdly, you have to change your watch forward by an hour, as Franco moved Spain onto the same time zone as his Nazi friends.

 

[Diogo92]

No passport control but, weirdly, you have to change your watch forward by an hour, as Franco moved Spain onto the same time zone as his Nazi friends.

Well, I think that Madrid could have CET/GMT+1 time, but for Galicia it's stupid, because it's on the same meridian has Lisbon and London.

Best Regards
Diogo

 

[scruffy1]

No such animal, extinct years ago-if you know Portuguese you don't even have to change a language since Galego is so similar.

 

[Camembert]

Spain andPortugal are in between the Schengen area. Coming outside the EEC you will have to show your passport and eventually a visa. Between the countries who signed the Schengen agreement there is no controll. It is the same in the USA. Arriving from outside the USA you have to show your passport and an ESTA document.. Between all states you can travel free.

 

[dougfitz]

... as Franco moved Spain onto the same time zone as his Nazi friends.

This is just not true. The Spanish peninsula has observed GMT since 1 Jan 1901.

 

[alansykes]

No passport control but, weirdly, you have to change your watch forward by an hour, as Franco moved Spain onto the same time zone as his Nazi friends.

This is just not true. The Spanish peninsula has observed GMT since 1 Jan 1901.

You might perhaps like to check your facts before making quite such a confident assertion.

Portugal, in the Iberian peninsula, is indeed still on Greenwich Mean Time, but Spain moved forward onto what is now called Central European Time soon after Franco met Hitler at Hendaye in 1940:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/...been-in-the-wrong-time-zone-for-seven-decades

 

[Diogo92]

This is just not true. The Spanish peninsula has observed GMT since 1 Jan 1901.

Well, they are GMT+1/CET. At least Galicia could be on the same timezone has Portugal.

 

[CanPete]

You guys crack me up; who cares ? The sun rises and sets all the same.... Take a deep breath and smell the flowers . . . . Buen Camino !

 

[dougfitz]

You might perhaps like to check your facts before making quite such a confident assertion.

Portugal, in the Iberian peninsula, is indeed still on Greenwich Mean Time, but Spain moved forward onto what is now called Central European Time soon after Franco met Hitler at Hendaye in 1940:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/...been-in-the-wrong-time-zone-for-seven-decades

You are right. I don't know what I was thinking.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

OK OK guys!
With regards to Passports, I took a bus from Salamanca to Porto. As we crossed the Portuguese border we had to show our passports - the border control men actually boarded our bus to check them. One girl didn't bring her passport: there was quite a fuss and she was allowed through only when her friend vouched for her. If in doubt - take your passports!

 

[Diogo92]

OK OK guys!
With regards to Passports, I took a bus from Salamanca to Porto. As we crossed the Portuguese border we had to show our passports - the border control men actually boarded our bus to check them. One girl didn't bring her passport: there was quite a fuss and she was allowed through only when her friend vouched for her. If in doubt - take your passports!

What the heck?! That's not normal. You probably catch some control because there was a search warrant for someone, but that it's not normal! I've done Santiago de Compostela to Lisbon by bus, border crossing was, how can I say it, I didn't see it! I've only noticed that I was already in Portugal, because I've received and text message on my phone from Optimus/Orange, saying that I was using again my normal service, and that Roaming has been deactivated.

We didn't passed any toll, any check point, any control thing.

Best Regards
Diogo

 

[grayland]

There is no passport control within the EU.....hasn't been since EU formed.

The only reason the police would board a bus is that they were actually looking for someone and were checking ID.

Most countries do "require" that non EU citizens have passports with them at all times but do not stop people to check. A traffic stop or accident could trigger a problem if you did no have it.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The only reason the police would board a bus is that they were actually looking for someone

Or to stay employed. Police still check buses before the tunnel from France to Spain at Canfranc Estacion. It may be under the guise of enforcing regulations on hazardous materials in the tunnel, but on a bus? A cursory check? An occasional random check of passenger ID's? Still, they do stop vehicles and board buses, so border checks are not entirely gone.

 

[whariwharangi]

There is no passport control within the EU.....hasn't been since EU formed.

The only reason the police would board a bus is that they were actually looking for someone and were checking ID.

Most countries do "require" that non EU citizens have passports with them at all times but do not stop people to check. A traffic stop or accident could trigger a problem if you did no have it.

Thats not entirely true ... its not EU ... its Schengen Area. There are countries that are part of EU and not part of Schengen Treaty. The wiki article has good description.

Schengen Area
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

 

[grayland]

Thats not entirely true ... its not EU ... its Schengen Area. There are countries that are part of EU and not part of Schengen Treaty. The wiki article has good description.

Schengen Area
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

Thanks.
You are correct. I overstated the actual area involved.

 

[naplesdon]

I periodically take the bus between Bilbao and Biarritz and more often than not there is a police barrage on the bridge between Irun and Hendaye. I have also seen this same thing at the bus stop in St. Jean de Luz. It is just a matter of showing them your passport or ID card, but I have also seen people removed from the bus a few times because they lacked the proper paperwork.

 

[naplesdon]

Sorry I meant to post this to the CF site, I had zero issues walking across the bridge from Valenca to Tui.

 

[Camembert]

Thats not entirely true ... its not EU ... its Schengen Area. There are countries that are part of EU and not part of Schengen Treaty. The wiki article has good description.

Schengen Area
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

That'swhat I wrote here before on this thread.
I travel since many years around Europe as a European citizen either by car or airplane or ferry. The only place where you show your passport is entering airports if you fly to another country. It is the same as you enter the US. Arriving in New York from Europe you have all the ID controlls. Flying domestic to other states no passportcontrol.