A woman was stopped at the gate in Spain and quizzed over her nationality when she was about to board her flight back to Luton. Natasha Cochrane De La Rosa was blocked from boarding her flight home and was left stranded in Spain due to new Brexit border rules.

Natasha was born in the UK but was denied entry due to a mix up with her immigration status. The 26-year-old from Islington had enjoyed a holiday with friends in Amsterdam and was due to travel home to Luton on April 6. Natasha sailed through check-in, security and passport control as normal, but was stopped at the gate where she says she was quizzed on her dual nationality status.

She had no problems leaving the UK either, flying from Luton to the Netherlands on April 2 without a hiccup.

Born and raised in North London to a British father and a Spanish mother, Natasha says the issue comes down to the fact her father was unable to automatically pass on his citizenship to her, as her parents were unmarried when she was born, and now her mother must be able to 'prove' she had free movement rights across the EU at the time she was born - something which she says she never received paperwork for.

Natasha says this 'grey area' comes down to new border control rules introduced by the Home Office on February 26 which states dual nationals are no longer able to enter the UK using a foreign passport alone.

They must present either a British or Irish passport or possess a digital certificate of entitlement, reports the Manchester Evening News.

In order to get home, she must either pay £589 for the digital certificate or apply for a British passport which hinges on her mother being able to prove her free movement status almost three decades ago.

Natasha, who now lives in Haringey, said: "I was born in Islington, I have paid taxes, I have voted. I am a dual national I do have British nationality but the government are saying none of that I have lived for 26 years matters anymore."

The client success manager is now staying in Spain with a family friend having been able to book a flight from Amsterdam to Seville before she was stopped from flying to Luton.

"Luckily I am privileged enough to have a haven essentially but if I didn't have any ties to my country, didn't speak the language or have anywhere to stay I would have been left homeless in the Netherlands," she said.

"I feel the government have failed and they have a responsibility to dual nationals and the population of the UK that such dramatic and important law changes are effectively communicated.

"People are commenting on my social media posts saying they would be in the same position as me if they had not come across my story. Whilst I do take responsibility for not having checked, why would I check something that for 26 years of my life I've never had to do?

"The system is poorly designed and offers no support or understanding for citizens like myself who do not hit the check box but are still a British citizen."

While at the gate, Natasha explained how airline staff called immigration services on the phone and were "basically saying these new laws had come in".

"I was showing my birth certificate, my national insurance, my P45, my dad's birth certificate and was still denied boarding as I had not got the right documentation," she said.

As her parents were not married when she was born in 1999, Natasha's father was unable to automatically pass on his citizenship.

Now, she either must apply for a passport which she says has a chance of being rejected - as she says there is no documentation to prove her mother had free movement rights - or pay over £500 for a digital certificate of entitlement.

She added: "There was not documentation, not to my mother or anyone with free movement rights in the EU given to them by the government. How do we prove that now?

"To prove it we're having to find HMRC documents or find anything that proves she was here legally. It was 26 and a bit years ago so it's been a nightmare finding the documents."

Natasha also said after Brexit in 2021 her mother applied for settlement papers, as did her younger sister who was born in Spain which were both granted, but she says she was told she 'didn't qualify' as she was already a British citizen.

She also said she is not currently able to apply for the digital certificate of entitlement at the moment, as she still does not have the documents required from her mother - and said she's been told the process could take a minimum of three to six months, or even up to a year, to resolve.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Since 25 February 2026, all dual British citizens need to present either a valid British passport or Certificate of Entitlement when travelling to the UK.

"To prove citizenship and enter the UK legally, individuals can apply for a British passport or Certificate of Entitlement from abroad.

"Public information advising dual nationals to carry the correct documentation has been available since October 2024 and a substantive communications campaign about the introduction of ETA has been running since 2023.

"This requirement applies to all British citizens regardless of other nationality and is the same approach taken by other countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia."