Spain will have the power to block British nationals from entering Gibraltar under a post-Brexit treaty which breaks a promise that there would be no Spanish “boots on the ground”.
A draft agreement, published on Thursday after years of negotiation, confirmed that while Gibraltar will remain British, key parts of border control would be placed in Spanish hands.
Under the deal, Spanish officers acting on behalf of the European Union will carry out Schengen immigration checks at Gibraltar’s airport and port, with the power to refuse entry to non-EU nationals, including British citizens who are not residents. Spain will also be able to block residency permits on security or public health grounds.
The arrangement effectively shifts the EU’s external border from the between Spain and Gibraltar to the Rock’s points of arrival, ending routine passport controls for the estimated 15,000 people who cross the border daily.
It also means British travellers would have their entitlement to visa-free travel in Europe curtailed. Previously, Schengen checks did not apply to flights landing in Gibraltar. But now that they will, any British traveller staying on the Rock would use their Schengen entitlement alongside the limit set by the Gibraltan government.
This means that if a Briton stayed in Gibraltar for 30 days, they would then only have 60 days of visa-free travel within any 180-day rolling period to travel to countries such as France or Germany.
The barbed-wire fence separating Gibraltar from Spain for more than a century is expected to be dismantled, creating what ministers described as a “fluid border” for people and goods.
However, this means Spain will be able to “perform any functions which are required to exercise border control”, including surveillance, checks and enforcement measures.
Spanish border guards will be permitted to arrest, search or detain people, and pursue suspects across the frontier under “hot pursuit” arrangements.
The treaty is a shift from earlier assurances by Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, that there would be no “Spanish boots on the ground”.
Arrivals by air from Britain will face scrutiny from both Gibraltar authorities and then by Spanish officials applying Schengen rules. The Foreign Office said this would be similar to French border checks at London’s St Pancras station. Spanish officials will not be able to refuse entry to Gibraltar residents.
Currently British travellers flying from the UK pass only through Gibraltar’s immigration checks, without any Spanish involvement.
Stephen Doughty, the foreign officer minister, insisted the agreement safeguarded sovereignty. He told MPs that Gibraltar was “not joining Schengen” and that immigration, policing and justice would remain the responsibility of its own institutions.
He said: “This treaty ensures Gibraltar’s economy, people and future are protected as an integral part of the British family.”
The agreement includes a sovereignty clause which said that nothing within it constitutes recognition or denial of competing British or Spanish claims over Gibraltar, which was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and whose population has repeatedly rejected shared sovereignty.
Military facilities, including the RAF base and naval installations, remain under British control and are exempt from Spanish or EU oversight.
Gibraltar’s unique runway — the road is blocked every time an aircraft takes off or lands
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However Wendy Morton, the shadow Foreign Office minister, warned that the treaty risked leaving Gibraltar subject to “ongoing EU rule-taking without meaningful political control”.
She said that sovereignty was “not simply about words, it is about how arrangements operate in practice”, adding: “This treaty does not merely apply a fixed list of EU law. It provides for future EU acts listed in the annexes to be adopted and implemented with serious consequences if they are not.”
Morton questioned how Gibraltar and the UK would avoid “becoming subject to ongoing EU rule-taking without meaningful political control”.
Gibraltar will also align aspects of its customs regime with EU standards to eliminate checks at the land border. Import duties will broadly mirror EU rates, allowing residents to carry everyday goods across the frontier without declarations, although the territory will retain its long-standing absence of VAT.
Goods entering Gibraltar will instead pass through new customs clearance hubs in Spain and Portugal and comply with EU product standards.
The treaty still requires ratification by the UK and Gibraltar parliaments and approval by the European parliament. Officials hope it can be provisionally implemented before new EU entry systems come into force in April.
Picardo described it as a “safe” agreement that protected the Rock’s British identity while unlocking growth through access to the European travel area.
He said: “This is a safe and secure agreement we have negotiated alongside the UK and that unequivocally protects our position on sovereignty, safeguards our economy and delivers the certainty our people and businesses need.”