Spain will not put the agreement before the parliament in Madrid, leaving it to be ratified by the European parliament in Brussels. If the treaty is not ratified before the April 10 deadline \u2014 when the land border is set to open \u2014 the agreement may be implemented on a provisional basis.<\/p>\n
Further details of the agreement will describe how contentious sticking points will be addressed, such as how the airport and the border posts are managed between Spain and the UK, whether Spanish police officers on the territory are armed and what taxes apply on goods entering Gibraltar.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772102901_390_\/3ad4763d-40de-41cc-9fc7-6dc93c7d350d.jpg\")
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Gibraltar airport in 2020<\/p>\n
ALAMY<\/p>\n
Negotiations previously faltered over issues such as the sovereignty of Gibraltar\u2019s airport, which serves as an RAF base. <\/p>\n
Under the treaty, Spanish and British officials will make checks at Gibraltar\u2019s airport and port, meaning there will effectively be no land border separating the two sides.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ousted police chief on pressure and \u2018vindication\u2019 in Gibraltar row<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe civilian air terminal will be run by a company jointly 50\/50 by the Spanish and Gibraltar governments,\u201d a source close to the negotiations said. <\/p>\n In addition, Gibraltar will end its VAT-free regime, a key demand of Madrid, which has long complained that lower taxes on the territory distorted the Spanish economy and encouraged contraband trade in some products, like cigarettes. Instead there will be a new levy, a higher rate of import duty called a \u201ctransaction tax\u201d.<\/p>\n The status of Gibraltar \u2014 which has been under UK rule since the 18th century \u2014 and how to police the border with Spain have been points of disagreement since Britain voted in 2016 to leave the EU.<\/p>\n Brexit left Gibraltar, which has a land border with Spain, outside the European Union\u2019s customs union and without guaranteed free movement of people. The deal aims to prevent a hard border emerging under new EU rules.<\/p>\n The treaty effectively makes Gibraltar part of the EU\u2019s Schengen free-travel zone, envisaging a fluid border with dual control checks for arrivals by air at Gibraltar airport, carried out by Gibraltar and Spanish officials.<\/p>\n Spanish diplomats hope the treaty will strengthen their country\u2019s claim on Gibraltar<\/p>\n ALAMY<\/p>\n A joint statement issued by the UK, Spain and the EU in June said the new deal \u201cresolves the last major unresolved issue from Brexit\u201d.<\/p>\n The treaty, both Spanish and British diplomats hope, will remove \u201cthe stone in the shoe\u201d that has plagued bilateral relations for centuries. Spanish diplomats, however, hope that it will strengthen their country\u2019s legal claim on the Rock in the future, leading the way for Madrid to wield greater influence over the UK territory. <\/p>\n Spanish media reported that the British territory agrees to incorporate the agreed European legislative acts into its domestic law and to align itself with future amendments, as well as to accept the principles and case law of the European Court of Justice. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/\/55304e18-bce2-47b4-bb95-11d37b60cde3.jpg\")
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