MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Puerto Iguazú becomes busiest gateway into Argentina

The city of Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, is linked to the city of Foz de Iguazu, Brazil, through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge

The Argentine city of Puerto Iguazú on the three-way border with Brazil and Paraguay has superseded Buenos Aires' international Ezeiza airport as the main gateway into the country, it was reported.

As travelers cram migration posts, Esteban Moreno, Land Control chief at the Migrations Board explained the agency has been taken by surprise by the large flow of tourists despite proper manning and updated equipment at the crossing posts.

Images of delays of up to two hours went viral on social media and the people affected would not agree with Moreno's statements in light of their own experiences on the spot.

Puerto Iguazú handles twice as many travelers as Ezeiza, Moreno explained Thursday. “We are in peak season with an exponential increase in traffic; we currently have 31,000 daily entries, twice as many as Ezeiza [in] just very few days,” he insisted.

The official added that 113 border inspectors are currently assigned to the crossing. “We are well staffed. It is a pass that has its peak hours where there may be a little more congestion. We are going to rotate the personnel so that they go to the sectors where traffic is increasing”, he added.

He also pointed out that in terms of technology “we are doing well” compared to the Brazilian and Paraguayan checkpoints in Foz do Yguazu and Ciudad del Este respectively.

“We changed the computers, the readers, we have the biometric gates,” insisted Moreno, who also highlighted Argentine authorities had always given Puerto Iguazú the utmost importance.

This shift in would-be travelers has local businesses pressing for a change in the migration rules, which if unchanged results in severe losses for local businesses, who have pressed for a tourist corridor across the Triple Frontier.

The Economic, Social and Environmental Development Council of Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, has dusted off an old project to strike immigration requirements for citizens from Brazil and Paraguay.

They believe 30% of would-be travelers are deterred by 4 to 5-hour lines at Customs between Brazil and Argentina.

The city of Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, is linked to the city of Foz de Yguazu, Brazil, through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge, over the Iguazu River, and is located a little more than 20 kilometers from Ciudad del Este, which in turn is linked to the Brazilian city through the Friendship Bridge, over the Paraná River.

Between CDE and Foz, the passage is free up to about 60 kilometers from the border, whereas to enter Argentina, immigration procedures must be carried out. The procedure may take several hours.

”We intend that the migratory procedure, if you come to Iguazú to spend the day, should not be carried out and that you can do the same as you do today when you go from Ciudad del Este to Foz de Yguazú or vice versa. Customs and Gendarmerie (Border Guard) should be maintained, but not like today, when you have to wait in line for 3 to 4 hours to come to have dinner,” Council Chairman Joaquín Barreto told reporters.

The idea had already been raised sometime between 2015 and 2016, but it was quickly shelved.