Surrounded by fences and against the dramatic backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar, the border between Spain and Gibraltar has long determined the pass in the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. a daily basis.
The news that border control after the last minute on New Year’s Eve between the UK and Spain could be a thing of the past has received wonder, relief and a large dose of caution on both sides of the land border.
“This is a historic day,” said Juan Lozano, president of an organization representing eight Spanish municipalities in the border area. “One that we will remember just as we remember the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.”
Hours before Gibraltar was ready to become the only country bound by a hard-fought Brexit, Madrid and London signed an agreement in principle that would enable British territory to become part of the Schengen area.
Such a move could transform the area, Lozano told Spanish news agency Efe. “It will make the fence that divided two communities, and that we have suffered for 300 years, disappear.”
Despite the surrender of Gibraltar to Britain in 1713, Spain has long sought to regain territory. Sometimes the border became a pawn in the sovereignty dispute, especially in 1969 when the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco blocked the border. The heavy iron gate was lifted 13 years later, making way for tearful reunions of long-separated family members.
In 2013, amid a dispute with Gibraltar over an artificial reef, Spain sharpened its checks at the border, causing months of grid blocking.
As the UK marked its first day outside the European regulatory framework, cameras set up at Gibraltar’s border crossing showed little traffic. The day started in confusion with passport reports is required to enter Spain instead of official identity cards.
The Prime Minister of Gibraltar tested it until Brexit and the last moment of the agreement regarding the area, because Spain could not yet get permission from the European Commission to admit British citizens with only an identity card.
‘An interesting irony is that the issue at the border today is not actually Spain, it’s the European Commission. But not for long, I hope, ” Fabian Picardo told the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation.
In Gibraltar, the immediate relief of avoiding a hard border has been fueled by many questions that remain unanswered. “Every collective sigh of relief must be tempered by the lack of knowledge of the exact arrangement,” the opposition Gibraltar Social Democrats said in a statement.
The party did not consider the agreement to be legally binding, as it has yet to be formalized by the European Commission into a treaty. “We welcome it for what it is – a first step that keeps the possibility of a secure and beneficial agreement alive and requires a tough Brexit.”
The demand for further details was reiterated by the Together Gibraltar party, which holds one seat in the parliament of Gibraltar. In its statement on the agreement, however, the party reserved its strongest words for the United Kingdom.
“The party also wants to remind voters that we are in this position, because in June 2016, the UK effectively threw Gibraltar at the lions,” he said.
It continued: ‘They involuntarily pulled us out of the EU and then vetoed our ability to access a trade agreement, eventually signing our own trade agreement which left us with no or no agreement. to negotiate leverage.