Spain and Gibraltar celebrate as border fence falls after signing of ‘historic deal’

Spain and Gibraltar are celebrating the fall of the last frontier fence in western Europe after the signing of a post-Brexit deal that brings an end to border checks for residents, tourists and the thousands of Spanish workers who cross into the British overseas territory every day.

The agreement, which was signed in Brussels on Tuesday and came into effect at midnight, marks the conclusion of more than four years of negotiations between the UK, Spain, Gibraltar and the EU after Britain’s departure from the bloc.

The deal eliminates border controls and customs checks to create a fluid frontier, and gives Spain responsibility for Schengen controls at Gibraltar’s airport and port. It has also led to the removal of the border fence that has physically separated Spain from Gibraltar since 1908.

Gibraltar – which was ceded to the British crown under the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 – is home to only about 40,000 people, and relies heavily on the 15,000 Spanish workers who cross into the territory each day. The Rock, as the territory is nicknamed, is also hugely important to the economy of the neighbouring Campo de Gibraltar region of Andalucía.

Under the previous system, long, rush-hour queues formed at the border, especially during periods of heightened tension between Madrid and London.

Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, hailed the deal as a “historic agreement” that would ensure mutual prosperity.

“We have just put an end to a long period of discord and opened the door to a new era of coexistence for two populations that lived apart and are now joining hands, three centuries later,” he said. “This is a historic agreement, an agreement for the future, which represents a huge leap forward in terms of stability and prosperity for the 300,000 Andalucíans in the Campo de Gibraltar.”

Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, said the treaty, which does not affect the territory’s British sovereignty, marked the beginning of a new era.

“The frontier that has so often divided and constrained our region will now become a place of cooperation and shared opportunity,” he said. “The daily lives of thousands of people will be made easier, our economy will be given greater certainty and Gibraltar’s future will rest on firm legal foundations.”

Picardo added: “We have reached this moment without surrendering who we are, without compromising our British sovereignty and without weakening the constitutional protections that define Gibraltar.”

The UK minister for Europe, Stephen Doughty, called the signing of the treaty “a very special moment”, while the European commissioner Maroš Šefčovič toasted “shared prosperity and no more barrier for the 15,000 people crossing between Spain and Gibraltar daily”.

Under the terms of the deal, Gibraltar will become a de facto part of the EU’s Schengen free-movement area and Britons flying into the territory will have to pass through the bloc’s new entry/exit system (EES), whose fingerprint and face scans have caused long queues in some airports.

“I am concerned [similar queues] could happen,” Picardo told the Financial Times this week.

The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is to travel to the border town of La Línea de la Concepción at noon on Wednesday to witness the removal of the last remaining section of the border fence.

Spain has long sought the return of its lost territory. The Brexit referendum in June 2016 prompted the conservative Spanish government of the time to suggest that joint sovereignty could be an option.

“It’s a complete change of outlook that opens up new possibilities on Gibraltar not seen for a very long time,” the country’s then acting foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, told Onda Cero radio just after the referendum. “I hope the formula of co-sovereignty – to be clear, the Spanish flag on the rock – is much closer than before.”

The suggestion was rebuffed by Gibraltar and London, and a lengthy process of negotiations began. More than 96.6% of Gibraltar residents voted to remain part of the EU.

The territory’s connections with Spain were totally cut off in 1969 when the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco ordered the land border to be closed after Gibraltar approved a new constitution. Families were separated and thousands of Spaniards lost their jobs overnight. The border did not reopen until 1982.