Britain, Spain Agree On Future Of Gibraltar
By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
LONDON/GIBRALTAR (Worthy News) – Britain and Spain have agreed to mend fences over the future of the contested tiny, rocky territory of Gibraltar at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, following years of tense negotiations.
The two sides, backed by the European Union, okayed measures to ensure that people can move freely across the land border between Gibraltar and Spain without checks.
To preserve the EU’s free travel zone and borderless single market for goods, entry and exit checks will instead be conducted at Gibraltar’s airport and port by both British and Spanish border officials.
The arrangement is similar to that at Eurostar train stations in London and Paris, where British and French officials check passports.
Britain and Gibraltar had previously resisted Spain’s insistence that Spanish border officials be based at the airport, which is also home to a Royal Air Force base.
An agreement was also reached Wednesday for visas and travel permits after Britain said half Gibraltar’s population crosses the border each day and that without an agreement, new EU entry-exit rules mean every one would have to have their passports checked.
The British government hailed the deal as a win in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s attempt to reset relations with the EU, five years after the Britain’s acrimonious departure from the bloc. Britain said the agreement “does not impact sovereignty” and ensures “full operational autonomy of the U.K.’s military facilities in Gibraltar.”
ROCKY RELATIONS
Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain has maintained its sovereignty claim ever since. Dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, a 426-meter (1398) high limestone ridge, the Moors first spotted and entered the territory in the Middle Ages before Spain ruled it and later Britain.
Layers of fortifications, including the remains of a 14th-century Moorish Castle and the 18th-century Great Siege Tunnels, are reminders of its turbulent history.
British-Spanish relations over “the Rock,” as it is known in English, have had ups and downs throughout recent history.
In Britain’s 2016 “Brexit” referendum on its exit from the EU, some 96% of voters in Gibraltar supported remaining in the bloc.
Britain left the European Union in 2020, with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved.
Talks on a deal to ensure people and goods could flow over the Gibraltar-Spain border had previously made little progress.
Yet the tiny territory of 6.8 square kilometers (2.6 square miles) on Spain’s southern tip near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean, depends significantly on access to the EU market for its 34,000 inhabitants.
REACHING AGREENENT
The accord does not affect sovereignty over Gibraltar, which remains a British overseas territory, with the European continent’s only wild monkey population and postbox firms enjoying a friendly tax regime under often sunny skies.
David Lammy, Britain’s foreign secretary, said: “This government inherited a situation from the last government which put Gibraltar’s economy and way of life under threat. Today’s breakthrough delivers a practical solution after years of uncertainty.”
Lammy added, “Alongside the government of Gibraltar, we have reached an agreement which protects British sovereignty, supports Gibraltar’s economy and allows businesses to plan for the long term once again.”
The Spanish foreign affairs ministry said the agreement “safeguards the respective legal positions of Spain and the United Kingdom regarding sovereignty and jurisdiction”.
It said: “The main aim of the future agreement is to ensure the future prosperity of the entire region. To this end, all physical barriers, checks, and controls on people and goods moving between Spain and Gibraltar will be removed.”
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič praised the deal on social media as “a truly historic milestone: an EU-UK political agreement on the future relationship concerning Gibraltar.”
It ends a period of rocky relations over the Rock, he suggested. “This benefits everyone and reinforces a new chapter in the relationship.”
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