Gibraltar hits back after Spain claims it will have the final say on border

Gibraltar has slapped down Spain‘s claim to have the final say on who enters the British territory, setting the stage for more wrangling over sovereignty.

Chief minister Fabian Picardo today tersely declared that ‘this is our land’ after Madrid’s top diplomat said her government would oversee cross-border travel.

The row comes a mere two days after an 11th-hour post-Brexit deal was struck to integrate Gibraltar into the EU’s passport-free Schengen Zone to avert a hard border.

Almost 30,000 people crossed between Spain and Gibraltar every day before the pandemic, half of whom were workers.   

That Spain has access to Schengen’s database and the UK does not means it now will police who enters Gibraltar, foreign minister Arancha González Laya insisted.

Chief minister Fabian Picardo today tersely declared that ‘this is our land’ after Madrid’s top diplomat said her government would oversee cross-border travel

That Spain has access to Schengen’s database and the UK does not means it now will police who enters Gibraltar, foreign minister Arancha González Laya (pictured) insisted

She told El Pais newspaper: ‘Schengen has a set of rules, procedures and instruments to apply them, including its database, to which only Spain has access. Gibraltar and the United Kingdom do not.

‘In order to enter a Gibraltar integrated into the Schengen area, the responsibility for border control is in Spanish hands.

‘That is why the final decision on who enters the Schengen area is Spanish, of course.’

Mr Picardo quickly challenged her interpretation and rejected her claim to control arrivals. 

He tweeted: ‘Under the New Year’s Eve Agreement only Gibraltar will decide who enters Gibraltar & Spanish officers will not exercise any controls in Gibraltar at the Airport or Port now or in four years time. This is our land. Couldn’t be clearer.’ 

Gibraltar’s new travel arrangements with Spain came into force at 11pm London time on New Year’s Eve, when the UK’s Brexit transition period ended.

With a land area of just 6.8-square kilometres, Gibraltar is entirely dependent on imports to supply its 34,000 residents

Boris Johnson offered his ‘wholehearted welcome’ to the deal and underscored his commitment to preserving the protection of the interests of Gibraltar and its British sovereignty’.   

Schengen covers most of the 27 EU members, along with Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. Gibraltar’s arrangement will be in place for an initial four-year period. 

Even when the UK was in the EU, it never joined Schengen, meaning passports were requited to travel to EU member states.  

With a land area of just 6.8-square kilometres, Gibraltar is entirely dependent on imports to supply its 34,000 residents.

A No Deal scenario would have slowed the cross-border movement of goods with new customs procedures. 

Border fluidity is also key for some 15,000 people who cross into Gibraltar every day to work, accounting for half of the territory’s workforce. Most are Spanish and live in the impoverished neighbouring area of La Linea. 

In the 2016 referendum, Gibraltar voted 96 per cent in favour of remaining in the EU.

Its status as a British overseas territory has always been a thorny issue and remains disputed by Madrid.