Brexit threatens to reignite a three-century border dispute between the UK and Spain that could disrupt the daily lives of thousands of Gibraltarians.
The small British territory at the entrance to the Mediterranean is in danger of starting the New Year with new restrictions on its border with the European Union, unless the United Kingdom and Spain reach a last-minute agreement on the disputed border.
The crossing of the border to Spain from Gibraltar, on December 3.
Photographer: Marcelo del Pozo / Bloomberg
Intense negotiations continue and an agreement for future relations with Spain and the EU is approaching, the enclave’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo told the Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper.
The Brexit trade agreement sealed on December 24 did not include an agreement for the British Overseas Territory and its 32,000 inhabitants. Without it, thousands of Gibraltarians and Spaniards who cross the border every day for work or leisure can face long delays due to the imposition of passport checks.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told RNE radio this week that failure to reach an agreement would result in Gibraltarians waking up on January 1 to discover that they have “the UK’s toughest border”. The British government has said it continues negotiations with Spain.
On a typical day before the pandemic, the territory’s border posts would withstand up to 30,000 crossings. They would include more than 15,000 workers – including many Spaniards – who enter Gibraltar Avenue Winston Churchill from the Spanish city of La Linea.
Supply trucks bringing British goods from the UK overland would also face new obstacles to reaching the Rock if customs controls were imposed. The goods would have to be cleared for the EU and then removed again by a Spanish customs post across the bay in Algeciras before entering the territory.
Read more: Gibraltar is thrown into disarray by Brexit Threat to supply lines
Gibraltar is no stranger to tension since the British took control of the Rock in 1713. Many inhabitants of the strategic outcrop vividly remember a 13-year blockade imposed by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, which only ended in 1982.
Common EU membership has helped to ease periodic tensions in the territory between the UK and Spain, allowing it to thrive in tourism, financial services and online games.
Spain has already taken steps to offset the impact of Brexit, allowing Gibraltarians to work in professions that require EU nationality or have jobs in the public sector.
Gibraltar already negotiates with the EU as a third country of goods, which means that, unlike the United Kingdom, its small economy will not face a flood of new rules as of December 31.
(Updates with the progress of negotiations in the third paragraph.)