Proposal to Britain: Spain and the European Union want to open the border with Gibraltar

offer to great britain
Spain and the European Union want to open the border with Gibraltar

11/25/2022 at 9:11 pm

Following Brexit, the border situation between Spain and the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar is still open. Spain and the European Union are now proposing to open the crossing. It should be a “guarantee of freedom of movement” for citizens of both sides. The British side remains cautious.

Spain and the European Union have proposed to the UK government to open the border between Spain and Gibraltar. A “comprehensive proposal” has been presented to Great Britain that “intends to remove the border fence and guarantee freedom of movement,” Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said. He said such a move would make Spain, as the representative of the Schengen area, “responsible for controlling Gibraltar’s external borders”. The Schengen Area allows its citizens to travel freely without internal border controls in 27 countries, four of which are not part of the European Union.

There was initially no response to London’s offer. However, Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, said in a statement to parliament that Albars’ comments “represent Spain’s position” in the ongoing post-Brexit talks on the future of the British enclave. His government and Great Britain “have their own proposals on the table, which should benefit the people of the whole region”.

Brexit has raised fears that a new “hard border” could emerge between Gibraltar and the European Union. But just hours before Britain is due to leave the EU on January 1, 2021, negotiators reached a framework agreement under which Gibraltar would benefit from Schengen rules. The details of the agreement are yet to be finalised.

The British exclave in southern Spain, which is just under seven square kilometers in size, is entirely dependent on imports to supply its 34,000 residents. The agreement was important in order not to complicate the movement of goods with new customs procedures.