As of Monday (February 19), Spain requires a transit visa for Senegalese passport holders travelling through a Spanish airport. The measure was introduced by the interior ministry to prevent travellers from taking advantage of a layover at a Spanish airport to apply for asylum in the country, after the rise in the number of people claiming asylum at Madrid airport.

Chaos between December and January at Barajas airport

The initiative is aimed at stemming a phenomenon that caused chaos, between December last year and January, at Madrid's Barajas airport due to the overcrowding of migrants, mainly from Senegal as well as Morocco, in the rooms reserved for asylum seekers.

Already at the end of January, Madrid had asked Rabat to stop Senegalese passport holders without a Schengen visa from boarding Spain-bound flights until the introduction of the mandatory transit visa on February 19.

Also read: Spain urges Morocco to stop Senegalese migrants without Schengen visa from traveling

Travellers required to have transit visa

Those currently required to have a transit visa for a layover in a Schengen country include travellers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Sri Lanka. In Spain's case, they also include passengers from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Cuba, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, India, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Syria, Togo, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Palestine.

The newly introduced transit visa was requested by police unions but has been criticized by NGOs -- including the Spanish Commission for Refugees -- which has claimed that the measure "makes it even harder for migrants to access international protection and endangers the lives of thousands of people".

Also read: Hundreds of asylum seekers stranded at Madrid airport