Spain and the United Kingdom have reached a last-minute agreement on Gibraltar, which facilitates access to the territory and eliminates the threat of new restrictions on the border with the European Union, once the United Kingdom leaves the bloc on 1 January.
A preliminary agreement has been reached that would help build “common prosperity,” Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said on Thursday.
Vehicles crossing the border in Gibraltar from Spain to Spain on December 30.
The territory will operate under Schengen conditions without passports, she said, adding that the final agreement is expected to enter into force in six months.
“The gate is up,” Gonzalez Laya said. “It allows the abolition of controls between Spain and Gibraltar.”
During a four-year implementation period of the agreement, officials from the European border agency Frontex will help control the port and airport of Gibraltar, and Spain is the party responsible for Schengen supervision.
The Brexit trade agreement concluded on December 24 did not include a settlement for the British overseas territory with a population of about 32,000. Failure to comply with an agreement threatened more intense passport verification, disrupting the flow of goods and the daily commute of thousands of workers.
“We have reached an agreement on a political framework to form the basis of a separate treaty between the UK and the EU on Gibraltar,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement. “We will now send this to the European Commission to start negotiations on the formal treaty.”
He said Britain “remained firm” in its support for Gibraltar and its sovereignty was protected.
Fabian Picardo, the territory’s chief minister, said Gibraltarians should “not be at all worried” that the deal could pave the way for the Spanish Civil Guard police to finally carry out border checks.
From the archive: a quick analysis of the existential challenge of Brexit in Gibraltar
The agreement marks a new chapter in the sometimes tense relationship between Spain and Britain over the tiny strategic enclave at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. Many residents of the territory, which has been under British control since 1713, vividly remember a 13-year blockade imposed by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, which ended only in 1982.
Common accession to the EU has helped eliminate the conflict and allowed the territory to thrive in tourism, financial services and online gaming. About 15,000 people who cross the border every day for work include many Spaniards from a surrounding area with a history of chronic unemployment.
“Almost at the last minute, the negotiation was successfully completed, and the clock stopped ticking,” Picardo told a news conference. “This is a serious policy, it is about the future of our children, about the strength and growth of our nation.”
– With the assistance of Macarena Munoz Montijano
(Updates from the eighth paragraph with the comments of British officials on sovereignty)