Inetum installing biometric scanners at 2 Spanish ports for EES rollout

Biometrics and passport scanners are being installed at Cadiz, Spain’s two major ports by Inetum España as part of the rollout of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System.

The EES deployment at the ports of Algeciras and Tarifa is being carried out over two phases at a combined cost of 14 million euros (approximately US16.2 million), The Spanish Eye reports. Port authority Autoridad Portuaria Bahía de Algeciras (APBA) is managing the project.

In the first phase, Inetum will supply equipment, including self-service kiosks, automated gates, CCTV systems, digital signage and tablets for identity verification and registration, under a  million contract. The EU is covering three-quarters of the capital cost of phase one, and all of its operational budget.

Inetum has a substantial history of working with Thales on biometric border control systems at Spain’s airports, including the 2021 installation of 30 ABC gates at Reus, Girona-Costa Brava and Tenerife Sur airports, and a consortium that began piloting face biometrics at Madrid Airport the same year.

The second phase covers passenger assistance staff, who will work with police, at a price tag of €10.8 million ($12.5 million) over three years. APBA is currently running the tender for this phase, which is expected to pave the way for the new system to begin operating before summer, 2026.

Civil registration digitization in Peru

The border control implementations are one side of Inetum’s business, but a project completed last November in Peru shows another. The company worked with RENIEC (Registro Nacional de Identificación y Estado Civil) to digitize 12 million historical records, including birth certificates and national identity documents.

The goal was to enable Peruvian citizens to access vital civil registry documents, a titanic task while they were spread out across 88 registry offices in physical form.

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  biometrics  |  civil registration  |  digital ID  |  Entry/Exit System (EES)  |  Inetum  |  RENIEC  |  Spain