By Gavin Lee
BBC correspondent in Europe, Gibraltar
Spanish workers in La Línea de la Concepción are ready to celebrate the removal of Gibraltar’s border controls. And they are right for that.
This small coastal town on the border with Gibraltar is one of the poorest in Spain. One third of the people here are unemployed and in some neighborhoods that number rises to 80%. Drug trafficking in Morocco and armed gangs have become a problem for the police.
Fifteen thousand residents work in Gibraltar, where salaries are on average 20% higher. And Gibraltar needs them for the life force of its economy, especially in the nursing, food and cleaning industries.
What will change
As part of the UK’s exit from the EU, the UK and Spain agreed in principle that the land border will disappear, possibly within six months, but the terms of the agreement must first be transformed into a formal treaty with the EU:
- The only road connecting the territories will be widened to allow people and cars to travel freely
- Some infrastructure will remain at the border, some guards will remain on standby and the purposes still need to be worked out, such as judging the need for certain customs controls outside the border and, if so, how they would work.
- For the border to disappear, Gibraltar will effectively become part of Europe’s passport-free travel area – the Schengen zone – although there is a different use of language on both sides about whether it will be “part of” or “connected to” Schengen
- Without the border, new arrivals will only be checked if they enter the port by sea and by air
- For the first time, in addition to the Gibraltar border guards, there will be border guards from the EU and the Coast Guard Agency, known as Frontex, also checking passports.
Gibraltar reaches UK-Spain agreement to keep border open
‘Work is much more important than the color of the flag’
Gib, as he is known, has worked for 20 years for La Línea resident Melissa. She is an assistant professor and I met her when she was about to cross the two border posts on her morning commute, first through the Spanish checkpoint, then immediately afterwards on the side of Gibraltar, where she will show the guards her work permit.
“This is great news for us. In the future, it means that it will be easier to just cross for people [trying] to get jobs. For my son, for example, who has no job, “she says.” Working here for me is much more important than the color of the flag. ”
Juan José Uceda, of the La Línea Workers’ Association, celebrated with a bottle of Rioja from the 1940s when he learned about the business.
“We think about the change that this can bring psychologically to everyone here, and have no boundaries that prevent us. We are a city born by the needs of Gibraltar and we have suffered for so many years, the queues, the delays at the border and the political issues behind it too. “
Read more from Gavin: Brexit leaves Spain’s British coast facing dilemmas
Spain, which disputes British sovereignty over the Rock, has often been accused of deliberately delaying traffic by loosening border controls to create long delays, especially in times of tension between the two sides.
“There are workers who often waited at the border for five or six hours without moving and, on the way back, they have to wait the same time”, complains Juan José.
It affects families on both sides. Especially some children who go to school across the border.
“You could see the kids having breakfast in the cars, waiting. And there are no bathrooms here. Nothing.”
‘Like St Pancras station on Eurostar’
Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabien Picardo, describes the agreement as creating “a common travel area between Gibraltar and the rest of Schengen”.
“It’s a bit like the juxtaposed controls that you would see at St Pancras station when you were on the Eurostar. You would first go through British passport control. And then, a few steps later, you would go through the French passport control. This is exactly the configuration of what we propose it to happen if the European Commission agrees, and we raise our pre-agreement into a treaty. “
Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya recently said that Spain would have to have the “last word” on the airport and port border agreements, because Spain is the Schengen member country that allows the deal to happen.
This led to criticism that the move could weaken British sovereignty over the territory, but Picardo says that if the plan goes ahead, the decision on who enters Gibraltar will be made only by a Gibraltan guard, so that the British Territory Overseas would have “primacy”
“So, if we say ‘No’, you need to turn your tail and go. Then, you will not enter Gibraltar.
“There is absolutely no way for anyone to suggest the agreement we made or that we would be part of a treaty that would somehow dilute British sovereignty.”
Spain: ‘I would call it’ co-responsibility ‘
Spain’s Europe Minister Juan González-Barba Pera told the BBC that while Spanish claims about the Rock have not abated, the deal was not about territorial claims.
“In 2002, [Gibraltar] they held a referendum and rejected the idea of co-sovereignty. Instead of co-sovereignty, I would call it ‘co-responsibility’ because, through this agreement, the United Kingdom is allowing Gibraltar to participate in certain European Union policies in which the United Kingdom does not participate. “
The Spanish government will outline the details of the principle agreement in parliament next week.
There was little chance that Spanish politicians would process the details of the agreement, as the agreement in principle was hastily concluded on New Year’s Eve, hours before the UK was due to leave the EU.
“There are some people in Spain who are not happy with this agreement because they see it as a missed opportunity to carry out our claims,” said the Spanish minister. He also accepts some in the UK and Gibraltar will not be satisfied with the deal.
Risks of a return to old tensions
Despite questions about who has the final say on the deal, Gibraltar appears to have a better relationship with Spain’s socialist coalition government than with previous governments in Madrid.
When the conservative Popular Party was in power, the Foreign Minister said the Spanish flag would be raised at the top of the Rock after Brexit.
For Gibraltarians, there are still painful memories of past tensions. In addition to the border closure, they suffered a 13-year blockade imposed by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1969.
The EU received credit for helping to resolve periodic problems between territories. Now, with the UK no longer a member and Spain having greater responsibility at ports, some residents fear that this could be a stepping stone for Spanish rule.
Retired couple Angela Alessio and Harry Brown, who were born in Rocha, are suspicious of Spanish motives.
“I think that when I am no longer here, in the future, this place will be part of Spain. After all, we are in the south of Spain.” Angela says.
Harry disagrees: “I trust the Chief Minister, but we have to be careful. It is one thing to have European border guards checking passports, but I certainly don’t want the Spanish civil guard here to do this on their own.”
“Spain has always wanted to take over Gibraltar,” said former British military officer Axle. Construction foreman in Gibraltar, he moved to La Línea to live with his Spanish wife.
Gibraltar, British and Spanish officials insist that the border agreement is an experiment that will be reassessed four years after the border is removed.
They recognize that it is not without risks. The hope, however, is that with the end of the border, trust between these historically rebellious neighbors may begin to grow.
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