Dutch Daily Briefing · Episodes

France Counts the Cost, and a Lost Sunday at Schiphol

A ten-hour failure of Schiphol's passport e-gates left several hundred travellers watching their flights leave without them, and most can't claim compensation. France counts almost 2,400 arrests after a day of riots, and President Macron's TV address draws heavy criticism. Also today: Albert Heijn's app comes back, Dutch families take refugees into their homes, Amsterdam's culture scene pushes back on the tourist tax, and two Dutch athletes have very different weekends.

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Monday, 19 October 2026 · 14 min

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  • Schiphol’s passport e-gates fail for ten hours: An IT failure knocked out all 78 gates on Sunday, leaving holiday travellers queuing up to 90 minutes for manual checks. (NL Times, NU.nl)
  • Albert Heijn’s app is back; deliveries restart Friday: Accounts, Bonus offers and savings are visible again, but online orders before Friday 23 October are cancelled and refunded. (NL Times, NU.nl)
  • €355 million to open up new housing areas: The cabinet’s money for roads, cycle routes and transport serves almost 30,000 homes in Alkmaar, Apeldoorn, Helmond and Hengelo-Enschede. (NL Times)
  • Families take in refugees as Ter Apel overflows: After twenty men slept outside in the rain, more households are hosting refugees with permits to free up asylum beds. (NU.nl)
  • Amsterdam’s culture scene vs. the tourist tax: Cultural groups say rising hotel costs drive away visitors, with the tourist tax going from 12.5 to 16 percent in 2027. (Het Parool)
  • France: record arrests, and Macron’s speech backfires: Saturday’s unrest led to 2,397 arrests and 997 injured officers nationwide, including a record 855 arrests in Paris. (NOS, NU.nl)
  • Harrie Lavreysen’s eighth straight sprint title: In Shanghai, the 29-year-old beat Australia’s Leigh Hoffman in the final, bringing his career total to 23 world titles. (NOS)
  • A wet Amsterdam Marathon: Ethiopians Buze Diriba and Lemi Berhanu won, with Diriba setting a course record of 2:16:10. (NL Times, NOS)

What’s on in Amsterdam (Monday 19 October 2026)

  • Slayyyter: WOR$T GIRL IN THE WORLD TOUR: The St. Louis-born pop artist brings her third album, mixing punk, pop and rap, to an Amsterdam concert hall in a former church. (Monday 19 October, 19:30, Paradiso, Leidsebuurt (Centrum))
  • Akira, 4K restoration (opening): LAB111, an independent cult-film cinema in Amsterdam-West, is showing the anime classic restored in 4K. (Opens Monday 19 October, screenings at various times (runs until 3 November), LAB111, Oud-West)
  • Nottingham High School Music concert: Ensembles from the English school give a free afternoon concert at the English Church in the Begijnhof. (Monday 19 October, 14:00–15:00, De Engelse Kerk, Begijnhof (Centrum))

More on in Amsterdam

Also in the news

  • Americans in the Netherlands get ready to vote in the midterms: A Trump plan requiring proof of citizenship to vote was tried in Kansas in 2014 and hurt tens of thousands of voters. (DutchNews.nl, NOS)
  • No trains on parts of the Arnhem–Utrecht line for 12 days from October 20: ProRail is suspending trains on sections of the line from Tuesday 20 October through Saturday 31 October. (NL Times)
  • US threatens ‘devastating’ countermeasures if the EU restricts SpaceX: The US ambassador to the EU warned against Brussels’ plan to reserve some satellite frequencies for European companies. (NOS)
  • Man convicted over antisemitic remark at pro-Palestinian protest in Amsterdam: Abdelmounaim El H., 52, was convicted for shouting ‘if only they had finished the job’. (NL Times)