I (Spanish national) arrived in Västerås airport (BTW calling this Stockholm is a joke) from Málaga. Both Sweden and Spain are in Schengen, so why did we go through a passport control? I thought this was something Corona-related, but it is strange since all travel bans into Sweden have been removed, even from outside Schengen.
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3The airport could simply be too small to maintain separate Schengen and non-Schengen area. Since it's also serving flights to London, it's easier to treat everybody as coming from outside the Schengen area. How did it look like? Was the flow of passengers from your plane mixed with other passengers? Was there anything that looks like a Schengen part of the terminal?– RelaxedCommented Apr 13, 2022 at 18:36
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2@Relaxed There is a couple of daily flights separated by eight hours, so no, there is no mix of passengers.– MiguelCommented Apr 13, 2022 at 19:53
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You could also have taken a wrong turn… not all airports are perfectly separating Schengen from non-Schengen arrivals. I once managed to get lost in a major Schengen airport, arriving from the US, and ending at my intra-Schengen departure gate, without anyone seeing any ID at all.– AganjuCommented Apr 13, 2022 at 20:37
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2@Aganju No. Västerås Airport has only 7 weekly arrivals, 3 from Stanstead (non Schengen) and 4 from Spain (Schengen). All arrivals are several hours apart, each arriving plane departs back to its origin about 30 minutes after arrival and the airport itself only opens around each arrival and departure. The immigration checkpoint will only be staffed on demand and not permanently. If immigration check was performed when a plane arrived from Spain, it is obviously on purpose and not a mistake.– Tor-Einar JarnbjoCommented Apr 13, 2022 at 21:49
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1Landing in Arlanda (the main airport in Stockholm) from Spain I also regularly have to go through passport checks, so it isn't being a small airport or taking a wrong turn.– DavidmhCommented Apr 14, 2022 at 13:27
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1 Answer
There are not supposed to be any routine immigration checks at the borders between Schengen countries, but for many years that has been more a theory than reality. Several countries introduced temporary regular immigration checks during the refugee 'crisis' in 2015 and this 'temporarity' is in many places still ongoing. Then came corona and was used as an argument for border checks and now we have the flow of refugees from Ukraine.
Short summary: You are and have never been guaranteed to not be controlled when crossing an intra Schengen border. Many Schengen countries also require by law that you carry valid travel documents with you when you cross their borders even if you come from or leave to another Schengen country.
answered Apr 13, 2022 at 17:20
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About "valid travel documents", to make things worse, a Spanish ID card is seen somewhat awkwardly abroad. To carry an electronically readable passport (and the kindness of the Swedish policeman) has avoided me some hassle..– MiguelCommented Apr 13, 2022 at 19:59
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8@Miguel Why do you think that kindness of the Swedish police officer avoided you hassle? In any case, a Spanish national id card would of course also have been plenty enough to enter Sweden. It is considered a valid travel document at least throughout the entire EEA and also in several other countries. Commented Apr 13, 2022 at 20:25