Does this have legs?

[Helzie]

I very much doubt this has legs for various reasons.
Spain must abide by the regulations set out as a member of the Schengen.
They can’t be allowed to simply pick and choose what they like and don’t like.
Then we have the issue of how this would affect all of the other nations within the Schengen.
Once within the Schengen you are not monitored until you leave.
That after all is the reasoning behind it.
As has been mentioned you could quite easily move around the whole Schengen area after entering via Spain then months later exit via Spain. And legally you would have the right to do so.

Then we have other foreigners being treated differently from us.
I don’t think that would go down to well.
Sadly this and other drawbacks are the result of us no longer being EU members, and I cannot see that changing in my lifetime.
We can’t expect to be treated any differently from other non member states, and the recent surge in entry refusals due to passports being more than ten years old only served to underline this.
With the new border control system ETIAS coming out in September, things may be set to get even worse. Without ETIAS we took 45 minutes to get through passport controls when leaving Madeira recently, god knows how long this would have taken with ETIAS. My advice is get used to it, or if your lucky enough to have an Irish parent then get an Irish passport.

Well before Brexit, we nearly missed our flight home from Madeira due to the incredible amount of time it took to get through all the controls at the airport. In fact, some people did miss the flight!

 

[Fisherman]

Well before Brexit, we nearly missed our flight home from Madeira due to the incredible amount of time it took to get through all the controls at the airport. In fact, some people did miss the flight!

When we first went to Madeira over 20 years ago, they barely checked your passport, you simply flashed it at the border guard. Once we were all told just to go through as they were on a break. Not now, now every passport is handed over, scanned, and stamped. They now have four gates in use, and last trip they even started using the EU passport gate to get us all through. But when ETIAS comes in next year things may get even worse. Last year folk missed their flights to Manchester, and were really angry in the queue, one man was threatened with arrest if he did not calm down. The border guards refused them to go to the head of the queues, this seemed really spiteful, and unlike how the people there normally behave. The people are one of the reasons we like Madeira,

 

[Eriba]

It's difficult for many to accept after 40 years inside the EU that now they are third country citizens, exactly the same as Canadians etc.
The third country rules have always been in place so nothing unexpected of course.