Walter Finch
GIBRALTAR is facing the prospect of a hard border with Spain for a number of months while the agreement to remove the border awaits ratification.
A date has now been tentatively set for the border fence to be dismantled in January 2026.
However, the EU’s new Entry Exist System (EES) digital border control is due to be incrementally rolled out at different border points within the bloc starting on October 12.
Every entry point into the EU is set to operate the EES by April 9, giving a six month window of uncertainty as to when it will be implemented at the Gibraltar border.
While Spain’s Foreign Ministry has declined to specify when this will be, the Olive Press has already seen the infrastructure expansion carried out on the Spanish side, with rows of brand new biometric scanners having been recently installed.
The original passport control room has also been significantly amped up, taking up around three times the space.
It raises the grim spectre that Gibraltar will have to wrestle with the suffocating embrace of a hard border with Spain for a number of months.
Sighs of relief were breathed when a wide-ranging political agreement on the future of the Rock was finally reached in June.
Among many of the complicated issues addressed was the removal of the checks on vehicles and people crossing back and forth between Spain and Gibraltar.
But there will be a lag of several months until the final legal text is ratified and becomes a reality.
And even the January date is optimistic.
El Pais reports that the text must first be translated into 23 languages and then approved by the European Parliament, where unexpected obstacles could still arise thanks to MEPs who might be opposed to the deal.
When contacted by the Olive Press, the Gibraltar government pointed out that it hasn’t endorsed this timeline but it was ‘working towards achieving the earliest timetable possible.’
The EES will oblige entrants to the bloc to undergo rigorous checks, including having their fireprints and faces scanned and entered into a new digital database.
While this will only be required from travellers just once, it will likely entail initial delays and long queues for Gibraltar citizens and British passport holders.
Reciprocal checks can be expected for the 15,000 EU workers who cross the border each day, posing the risk of huge delays that could temporarily cripple shops and businesses around Gibraltar.
The last time the Rock faced such a scenario, on October 11 when the so-called ‘rogue Spanish police chief’ gave orders to stamp Gibraltar passports, operations at St Bernard’s Hospital had to be postponed because cross-border workers could not make it for their shifts.
When quizzed on whether contingency plans had been made for this eventuality, or if the implementation of the EES might be delayed at the Gibraltar border, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told the Olive Press: “We are all ambitious for as early agreement on text and ratification as possible in order to achieve the earliest timetable possible for treaty text agreement, ratification and implementation.”
The mayor of Spanish border town La Linea de la Concepcion said he welcomed the plans to ‘demolish’ the border fence, but the town ‘needs to be informed transparently.’
Having not been kept informed of the supposed timeline, Juan Franco called on the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to set up an urgent meeting ‘to address a matter of utmost importance that directly affects our municipality.’
Click here to read more Gibraltar News from The Olive Press.
