The 90 day rule, now the passport stamp has gone
The Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026. The count is no longer done by hand. And contrary to what you will read, it does not apply to everyone.
Published · 8 minute read
Since 10 April 2026 nobody stamps your passport any more
The European Entry/Exit System is fully operational at every external Schengen border. This is not an announcement, it has happened.
The progressive rollout began on 12 October 2025 and ran for exactly 180 days, as article 8 of European regulation 2025/1534 provided. It ended on 10 April 2026. Since then your entries and exits are recorded digitally, with your fingerprints and your photograph, and the manual stamp has stopped.
What that means for you in practice: your 90 days are no longer counted from memory by an officer leafing through a passport. They are counted by a machine, at every crossing, and the list of people who have overstayed is produced automatically.
During the 180 days of rollout that calculator was deliberately switched off. It no longer is. If you had got into the habit of counting roughly, now is the time to stop.
In short
The Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026 and manual stamping has stopped: the count is automatic. Norwegians and Swiss nationals are not affected, only British passport holders are. ETIAS is still not in service and no legal act sets a date. An overstay exposes you to a fine of 501 to 10,000 € or to expulsion, never to both.
Who it applies to, and who it does not
This is the most widespread mistake, including on websites in our own trade: the rule does not apply to everyone.
| Passport | Subject to 90/180 | Registered at the border | ETIAS one day |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Norway | No | No | No |
| Switzerland | No | No | No |
| European Union | No | No | No |
Norwegians are not subject to 90/180. Norway is party to the European Economic Area agreement and its nationals move freely. The European Commission said so again on 27 July 2026: they are not registered in the Entry/Exit System.
Nor are the Swiss. The free movement agreement signed in Luxembourg on 21 June 1999 applies to them, and Spanish royal decree 240/2007, third additional provision, transposes it expressly.
Among the nationalities we meet most around Busot, only British passport holders are affected, since 1 January 2021.
How the 180 day window is really counted
It is not a calendar half-year, and that misunderstanding causes half of all overstays.
Article 6.1 of the Schengen Borders Code requires examining the 180 day period preceding each day of stay. The window rolls: it is recalculated every morning. There is no reset on 1 January or 1 July.
Article 6.2 says that the day of arrival and the day of departure each count as a full day. A Friday to Sunday trip uses up 3 days, not 2.
The same article adds something useful: periods spent under a residence permit or a long-stay visa are not counted. They are the only days that do not weigh.
The window rolls, and your days come back
The same calendar, read on 2 different dates. Nothing has changed in your stays: it is the window that has moved on, and the first stay has dropped out of it.
3 figures worth knowing
Read in the European and Spanish texts on 7 August 2026.
The date the Entry/Exit System became fully operational, and the date the stamp disappeared.
The fine set by article 55.1.b of Spanish organic law 4/2000 for irregular stay, classified as a serious offence.
The maximum length of an entry ban following expulsion, article 58.1. It can reach 10 years in exceptional cases of serious threat.
ETIAS: still not in service, and nobody can sell you otherwise
We opened the official European Commission page on 7 August 2026, and we quote what it says.
The wording leaves no room for doubt: ETIAS is currently not in operation and no applications for travel authorisations are collected at this point. The Union will give notice of the launch date several months in advance.
No legal act sets a date. A press notice of 28 April 2026 mentioned the last quarter of 2026, but that line no longer appears on the policy page we read today. So we write: scheduled, not dated.
If a website offers to process your ETIAS today for a fee, it is a scam. When it does open, the fee will be 20 €, set by delegated regulation 2025/1411, free under 18 and over 70, for an authorisation valid 3 years or until the passport expires.
The regulation also provides a soft landing: 6 months during which the authorisation is optional, then 6 months of grace on the first crossing, articles 83.1 and 83.3. Both extendable. Nobody will be turned back overnight.
What overstaying actually costs you
The Spanish texts have changed, and almost every page online still quotes a repealed regulation.
Royal decree 557/2011, which you will read everywhere, is no longer in force. The applicable text is royal decree 1155/2024, in force since 20 May 2025.
Irregular stay is a serious offence, article 53.1.a of organic law 4/2000. The penalty is a fine of 501 to 10,000 €, article 55.1.b. The administration may substitute expulsion, article 57.1, but never both together: article 57.3 forbids it expressly.
Expulsion carries an entry ban of up to 5 years, rising to 10 in exceptional cases of serious threat to public order. But article 244.2 of royal decree 1155/2024 leaves a way out: no entry ban is imposed if the person leaves Spain while the case is being handled, and one already imposed is revoked if they leave within the voluntary departure period.
Since 10 April 2026, an overstay is detected automatically. The grey area between an illegible stamp and a relaxed border no longer exists.
The only 3 ways to stay longer than 90 days
We list them because the first is poorly known and the other 2 are poorly understood.
The extension of stay without a visa
Article 49 of royal decree 1155/2024: 3 further months at most, on justified exceptional circumstances, with insurance, funds and a dated return ticket. It is valid for Spain only, not for the rest of Schengen. Administrative silence means refusal. Owning property is not in itself an exceptional circumstance.
A Spanish residence permit
It takes you out of 90/180: article 6.2 of the Borders Code does not count those days. But it brings other obligations, and it is not designed for a second home.
Simply not going over
This is what almost every owner we look after chooses: 2 or 3 stays a year, counted on a calendar, and a house cared for the rest of the year by somebody who lives here.
Do not confuse 2 counters that have nothing to do with each other
90/180 is an immigration rule. Tax residence is another matter, on a different calendar.
Article 9.1 of Spanish law 35/2006 on income tax uses 183 days within the calendar year, a fixed count, not a rolling window. The 2 counters do not line up.
And crucially, the tests are alternative. The same article makes you a Spanish tax resident if the main centre of your activities or economic interests is in Spain, even without reaching 183 days. It also sets a presumption if your spouse and minor children live there.
Put plainly: keeping within 90/180 does not automatically protect you from tax residence, and the reverse is equally true. They are 2 separate questions for 2 separate advisers.
What we do with this
Our visits change nothing on your day counter: we are not in your house instead of you, we are in your house when you are not. That is exactly the point. An owner who can only come twice a year needs somebody to open, air, check and close up between stays. The dated report from each visit also gives them, should they ever need it, a record of what happened in the house while they were away.
A question about your home?
The check visit is free, with no commitment. We come, we check the 38 points and we send you the report. You see what you are buying before you pay.
4 questions about the 90 days
Does owning a home in Spain give me extra days?
No. The Schengen Borders Code provides no exemption tied to owning property, and we found no Spanish text creating one. Ownership is not, on its own, an exceptional circumstance for the purposes of extending a stay either.
How do I know how many days I have left now the stamp has gone?
The count is kept by the Entry/Exit System. European regulation 2017/2226 gives you a right of access to your own data. In practice the simplest method is still to keep your own calendar, counting the day of arrival and the day of departure.
Does 90 days followed by 1 day out reset the counter?
No. The 180 day window rolls and is recalculated every morning. Leaving for 1 day frees up 1 day, 180 days later. This is the misunderstanding that costs the most.
I am Norwegian. Will I need an ETIAS when it opens?
No. Nationals of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are neither registered in the Entry/Exit System nor subject to ETIAS. The European Commission confirmed this on 27 July 2026.
Sources: Schengen Borders Code, regulation (EU) 2016/399, article 6; Regulation (EU) 2025/1534 on the progressive start of operations of the Entry/Exit System; European Commission, Entry/Exit System fully operational on 10 April 2026; European Commission, who is exempt from the Entry/Exit System, 27 July 2026; European Commission, official ETIAS page; Spanish organic law 4/2000 on the rights of foreign nationals, articles 53, 55, 57 and 58; Royal decree 1155/2024, the implementing regulation in force since 20 May 2025; Spanish law 35/2006 on income tax, article 9, tax residence. All opened on 8 August 2026.
What to remember
- The Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026 and manual stamping stopped the same day.
- Norwegians and Swiss nationals are not subject to 90/180: among our clients, only British passport holders are.
- The 180 day window rolls and is recalculated every morning. The day of arrival and the day of departure each count as 1 day.
- ETIAS is not in service as at 7 August 2026 and no legal act sets a date for it.
Written by Fabrizio and Krystel, Domivaro, Busot. Updated 7 August 2026.
This article gives general information, checked against the sources cited on the date shown. It replaces neither your contract nor the advice of your tax adviser, your insurer or a legal professional. Domivaro provides maintenance and condition reporting, not a private security or tax advisory service.
