Spain and the United Kingdom have signed a last-minute agreement on Gibraltar that facilitates access to the territory and removes the threat of further restrictions on the border with the European Union as soon as Britain leaves the bloc on January 1.
A preliminary agreement was reached that would help build “shared prosperity,” Spanish Chancellor Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters on Thursday.
Vehicles crossing the border to Gibraltar from Spain on 30 December.
The territory will operate under Schengen terms without a passport, she said, adding that the final agreement is expected to come into force within six months.
“The gate has been raised,” said Gonzalez Laya. “This allows controls between Spain and Gibraltar to be removed.”
During a four-year implementation period for the agreement, officials from the European border agency Frontex will assist with controls at the port and airport of Gibraltar, with Spain as the party responsible for Schengen supervision.
The Brexit trade deal sealed on December 24 did not include an agreement for British overseas territory with a population of around 32,000. The failure to reach an agreement threatened more intense passport checks, interrupting the flow of goods and the daily displacement of thousands of workers.
“We have agreed on a political framework to form the basis of a separate treaty between the UK and the EU with respect to Gibraltar,” said British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in a statement. “We are now going to send this to the European Commission in order to start negotiations on the formal treaty.”
He said the United Kingdom “remained firm” in its support for Gibraltar and its sovereignty was safeguarded.
Fabian Picardo, the chief minister of the territory, said that the Gibraltarians “should not worry” about the fact that the agreement could pave the way for the Spanish Civil Guard to end up carrying out border controls.
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The agreement marks a new chapter in the sometimes tense relationship between Spain and the United Kingdom over the small strategic enclave at the entrance to the Mediterranean. Many inhabitants of the territory, which has been under British control since 1713, vividly remember a 13-year blockade imposed by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, which only ended in 1982.
Joint EU membership helped to end the dispute and allowed the territory to thrive in tourism, financial services and online games. The approximately 15,000 people who cross the border every day to work include many Spaniards from neighboring areas with a history of chronic unemployment.
“Almost at the last minute, the negotiation was successfully concluded and the clock stopped running,” Picardo said at a news conference. “This is a serious policy, it is about the future of our children, the strength and growth of our nation.”
– With the assistance of Macarena Munoz Montijano
(Eighth paragraph updates with comments by British officials on sovereignty)