hreflang tags in sitemaps - your site has no hreflang tags

Question

We are using hreflang tags in our sitemaps and we're currently experiencing a number of issues with errors in WMT suggesting 'no return tags' and 'your site has no hreflang tags' that don't seem warranted. For example, WMT tools is not picking up any hreflang on this sitemap -

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<url>
<loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/</loc>        
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="ru" href="http://ru.casino-classic.eu/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="tr" href="http://tr.casino-classic.eu/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/bonus/</loc>        
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/bonus/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/bonus/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/bonus/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/bonus/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/bonus/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/bonus/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/bonus/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/bonus/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/bonus/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/casino-games/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/casino-games/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/casino-games/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/casino-games/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/casino-games/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/casino-games/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/casino-games/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/casino-games/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/casino-games/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/casino-games/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/contact-us/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/contact-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/contact-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/contact-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/contact-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/contact-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/contact-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/contact-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/contact-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/contact-us/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/blackjack/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/blackjack/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/blackjack/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/blackjack/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/blackjack/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/blackjack/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/blackjack/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/blackjack/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/blackjack/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/blackjack/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/slots/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/slots/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/slots/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/slots/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/slots/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/slots/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/slots/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/slots/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/slots/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/slots/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/roulette/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/roulette/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/roulette/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/roulette/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/roulette/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/roulette/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/roulette/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/roulette/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/roulette/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/roulette/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/video-poker/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/video-poker/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/video-poker/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/video-poker/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/video-poker/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/video-poker/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/video-poker/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/video-poker/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/video-poker/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/video-poker/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/winners/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/winners/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/winners/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/winners/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/winners/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/winners/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/winners/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/winners/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/winners/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/winners/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/faq/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/faq/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/faq/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/faq/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/faq/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/faq/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/faq/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/faq/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/faq/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/faq/" />
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.casinoclassic.at/about-us/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="http://www.casino-classic.eu/about-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="http://www.casinoclassic.co.uk/about-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-at" href="http://www.casinoclassic.at/about-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-ch" href="http://ch.casino-classic.eu/about-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="sv" href="http://www.casinoclassic.se/about-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://www.casinoclassic.de/about-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="http://fr.casino-classic.eu/about-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="da" href="http://www.casinoclassic.dk/about-us/" />
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.casino-classic.eu/about-us/" />
</url>    

Anyone else experience something similar or see any issues here?

Answer 1

I had a similar issue: the tags seemed to be right but they just wouldn't work.

So I did an experiment!

I created a very simple domain that had the tags configured in a way that clearly conformed to Google documentation. It was basically this:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html><head><meta charset="UTF-8"><meta charset="UTF-8"><title>Авто и мото</title>
    <link rel="alternate" hreflang="zh" href="http://bare.mercatos.in/cn">
    <link rel="alternate" hreflang="ru" href="http://bare.mercatos.in/ru">
    <link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="http://bare.mercatos.in/de">
</head>
<body><pre>

When it didn't work (as well as some of the earlier and more complex experimental setups), I wrote to the Webmaster Central Help Forum - and lo, the tags in this experiment and in one of the earlier ones suddenly started to work.

I can't be 100% sure that publishing my experiment to the Webmaster Central Help Forum was that has helped (since I've got no official feedback from the Google devs), but it certainly seems so.