{"id":176588,"date":"2025-06-11T20:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/176588\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T20:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:40:10","slug":"uk-and-spain-strike-historic-deal-over-gibraltars-future-and-borders-gibraltar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/176588\/","title":{"rendered":"UK and Spain strike \u2018historic\u2019 deal over Gibraltar\u2019s future and borders | Gibraltar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK and Spain have struck a \u201chistoric\u201d deal over Gibraltar<\/a>\u2019s future, ending the long-running dispute over the territory after Brexit and easing the movement of people and goods across the border with Spain.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Office said London and Madrid had reached an agreement that \u201cresolves the last major unresolved issue from Brexit\u201d, while the Spanish foreign minister said it brought down \u201cthe last wall\u201d on the continent.<\/p>\n

The deal will lead to the introduction of Eurostar-style dual passport checks at Gibraltar\u2019s airport and eliminate checks on people and goods crossing the land border between Spain and Gibraltar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The agreement does not affect Britain\u2019s sovereignty over Gibraltar<\/a>, and the Foreign Office said it included a clause to this effect agreed by all sides. British military facilities in Gibraltar will remain operationally autonomous.<\/p>\n

However, it will apply Schengen rules to Britons arriving in Gibraltar who are not resident there. This means they could be turned away at the border if they have already spent 90 days in the Schengen zone over a 180-day period.<\/p>\n

David Lammy<\/a>, the UK foreign secretary, said the breakthrough delivered \u201ca practical solution after years of uncertainty\u201d and that the UK\u2019s commitment to Gibraltar \u201cremains as solid as the Rock itself\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares, the Spanish foreign affairs minister, and Fabian Picardo, the chief minister of Gibraltar, hailed it as a \u201chistoric agreement\u201d in posts on Bluesky and X.<\/p>\n

Lammy, Picardo and Albares unveiled the deal in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon after talks by ministers from Britain and Gibraltar earlier in the day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Talks on the rules governing the Gibraltar border have been held on and off<\/a> since Britain exited the European Union in 2020<\/a>, which left the territory outside the EU customs union and without guaranteed freedom of movement.<\/p>\n

An estimated 15,000 people cross the land border every day, including thousands of workers who live in Spain<\/a> but work in Gibraltar.<\/p>\n

At present, Gibraltar residents can cross using residence cards without having their passports stamped, and Spanish citizens can cross using a government ID card. The deal aims to prevent a hard border from being imposed under new EU rules.<\/p>\n

The agreement establishes a system where British and Spanish border officers will carry out passport checks at Gibraltar\u2019s port and airport. This will mirror the system in place for Eurostar travellers at St Pancras station, where travellers go through British and French passport control before boarding trains to the continent.<\/p>\n

Spanish border police, based at Gibraltar\u2019s port and airport, could refuse access to a UK citizen who has broken Schengen rules, such as staying longer than 90 days during a 180-day period without a visa. This may prove unpopular with rightwing opposition parties in the UK.<\/p>\n

At a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon, Albares hailed the agreement as a new beginning in relations between Spain and the UK that brought down \u201cthe last wall\u201d on the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this agreement, the barrier will disappear. That\u2019s the last wall on continental Europe<\/a>, and we will guarantee free movement of persons and goods. Gibraltar will be linked to the Schengen area, and Spain will control entry and exit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

UK prime minister Keir Starmer spoke with Picardo to congratulate him, a No 10 spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cHe thanked him for his years of hard work, commitment and leadership to reach an agreement, adding that it was fantastic to see that it had been profusely welcomed by all sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth agreed that this would unlock a secure future for the people and businesses of Gibraltar, allowing them to plan for the long-term while protecting British sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his call with Spanish prime minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez, Starmer was congratulated, as \u201chis government had succeeded where others had failed\u201d.<\/p>\n

No 10 added: \u201cBoth leaders also agreed that this development unlocks huge opportunity to advance the bilateral relationship between the UK and Spain, on behalf of the British and Spanish people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Priti Patel, the UK\u2019s shadow foreign secretary, said: \u201cGibraltar is British, and given Labour\u2019s record of surrendering our territory and paying for the privilege, we will be reviewing carefully all the details of any agreement that is reached.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gibraltar has made concessions on taxation, including on tobacco. Spain has been calling for the territory to stop exempting tobacco from VAT amid EU concerns about smuggling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, the EU commissioner in charge of UK relations, told reporters that the agreement was a \u201ctruly historic milestone for the European Union<\/a>, including Spain, as well as for the United Kingdom\u201d.<\/p>\n

Brokered less than one month after the EU-UK summit in London last month, \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d said the latest deal reinforced \u201ca new chapter in our [EU-UK] relationship\u201d, adding that there was \u201cno alternative given today\u2019s realities and challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n

Negotiators will now focus on finalising the legal text to prepare it for ratification.<\/p>\n

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory<\/a> on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula. It has been ruled by Britain since 1713 but is self-governing in all areas except defence and foreign policy.<\/p>\n

Spain claims sovereignty over the territory<\/a>, but Gibraltar\u2019s 1969 constitution states there can be no transfer of sovereignty to Spain against the wishes of locals. In a 2002 referendum, 99% of people in Gibraltar rejected a proposal to share sovereignty with Spain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK and Spain have struck a \u201chistoric\u201d deal over Gibraltar\u2019s future, ending the long-running dispute over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-176588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114666669600456743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}