Gibraltar and Spain have removed the physical border fence that separated the two territories, ending more than three centuries of land border controls. The change took effect at midnight on Wednesday under a treaty between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
The agreement was signed in Brussels on Tuesday by representatives of the UK, Spain and Gibraltar’s government, following four years of negotiation after Britain’s exit from the EU. Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, said the deal removes “the physical barriers of a bygone era of friction” while keeping “the keys to our own front door.”
Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory of around 38,000 people at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, relies heavily on cross-border labour. Some 15,000 to 15,500 Spaniards, almost half of Gibraltar’s workforce, cross the frontier every day for work. Until now, they and thousands of other daily travellers faced a hard land border with passport checks.
Under the new arrangement, border controls no longer take place at the Spain-Gibraltar land crossing. Instead, entry and exit checks are now carried out at Gibraltar’s airport and port, jointly staffed by UK and Spanish officials. The setup mirrors the arrangement already used at Eurostar train stations in London and Paris, where both British and French officials check passports at the same location.
The treaty effectively brings Gibraltar into the EU’s Schengen free travel area for the purposes of the land border. Visitors travelling to Gibraltar from countries outside Schengen will still be subject to the EU’s Entry-Exit System, the biometric system that replaced manual passport stamps with photographs and fingerprints when it was introduced across Europe in April.
Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade representative, took part in the signing ceremony alongside British and Spanish ministers. He described the outcome of the four years of negotiation as “a very special feeling to see a fence come down.” The UK’s Foreign Office minister, Stephen Doughty, said the agreement secures Gibraltar’s long-term economic future and interests.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the frontier zone on Wednesday and hailed the new arrangements as bringing down “the last wall” inside the EU, saying they would create a zone of shared prosperity. The dismantling of the chain-link fencing in the border town of La Línea de la Concepción has taken place gradually over recent weeks.
The border has a long and difficult history. It was closed entirely by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1969 after Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to remain British, a closure that lasted 13 years and cut off the daily movement of workers and separated families. More recently, uncertainty around a post-Brexit deal had left cross-border commuters unsure how long their journeys to work might take.
Despite the removal of the physical fence, Gibraltar has stepped up other forms of border security. Officials have installed live facial recognition cameras at entry points and across the territory, alongside additional CCTV coverage, a larger police presence and more resources for customs and Coast Guard agencies. Picardo summed up the shift by saying “the fortress has become a digital fortress now.”
Gibraltar has an economy built on financial services and online gaming, and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world despite covering just under seven square kilometres. For neighbouring Spain, easing the border is expected to benefit the Campo de Gibraltar region, which has historically had one of the country’s highest unemployment rates.
For travellers, the change means family visits, school activities and leisure trips between Gibraltar and Spain can now happen without the wait times that previously came with frontier queues. Air and sea arrivals to Gibraltar will continue to go through standard entry and exit checks, now handled jointly by UK and Spanish border staff.
Photo Credit: Framalicious / Shutterstock.com
