George Mathias
THE government of Gibraltar has denied that there is any connection between the border issue and the failure to reach an agreement on UK/Gibraltar driving licences in Spain.
For months on end, there has been a dual hold up.
One on a post-Brexit deal on the movement of people and goods on the Gib border which has seen increasingly beefed-up checks on British and Gibraltar citizens crossing the border to Spain.
Many holiday makers have been asked to provide an official letter of invitation to prove they are only visiting for tourism purposes with others scrambling to provide proof of their home ownership.
And another on driving licences, with Spain the only country in the EU without a deal on UK and Gibraltar driving licences leaving thousands who are resident in Spain stranded.
“We should not lose sight of the fact that the driving licences issue has come about as a direct consequence of the decision taken by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union,” a HMG Gibraltar spokesperson told the Olive Press.
He remained tight-lipped on a date for when a deal on the border might be struck:
“There have been eight rounds of talks, the latest of which took place in London in May. The Government of Gibraltar remains committed to a treaty in keeping with the agreement of December 2020.”
Pressed more on the driving licence saga, the spokesman was reluctant to play the blame game.
“We issued a series of alerts to drivers through Technical Notices well before our departure from the European Union advising them of what action to take. One such action was that Gibraltarians resident in Spain, or in any other EU country, should have applied to exchange their driving license before the published deadlines expired.”
The Olive Press urges its readers to sign the petition to get Brits back on the road here.
READ MORE:
- U-TURN CAMPAIGN: Olive Press making big inroads with driving licence exchange petition
- U-TURN CAMPAIGN: British expat behind driving licence petition speaks out
- U-Turn Campaign: Everything you need to know about the driving licence exchange debacle for Brits in Spain
