Gibraltar is about to become another running sore as a result of Brexit. Talks have been going on since the withdrawal agreement was signed to sort out the border issue with Spain, which has the unequivocal support of the EU behind it. Gibraltarians weren’t stupid in 2016, they could see the potential difficulties that Brexit might bring and voted by 96% to remain in the EU. About fifteen thousand Spanish workers cross the border every day and being part of the EU meant checks on goods and people were minimal. All that is about to change and it isn’t hard to predict the coming outrage of Brexiteers.
An agreement is close and will soon be announced. As with Ireland, albeit for different reasons, resolving the border problem hasn’t been easy. With Gibraltar, it isn’t the risk of violence breaking out, but the sheer economic necessity of keeping an open border, when Brexit has created the need for one.
Brexiteers would be happy to see a hard border between Gibraltar and Spain, just as they were between Ireland and Northern Ireland. They would happily abandon the local communities to their fate as long as ‘sovereignty’ is preserved.
But it’s pretty clear Gibraltar needs Spanish workers and needs to keep a point of entry for tourists into the Andalusia region of Spain. The British Overseas Protectorate has a population of about 32,000 and most of the labour force is from Spain. It couldn't survive in the way it has without access to Spanish workers and I assume a lot of the staples of life also come across the land border rather than by sea.
In 1967, Gibraltarians rejected a proposal for Spanish sovereignty, and again in 2002, they turned down another proposal for shared sovereignty in a second referendum. But, since Spain joined the EU in 1986 there has been a lot of economic integration, and that has clearly changed things.
Given the choice of a border between themselves and Spain or between themselves and Britain, it appears that they are about to opt for the latter. It also seems they will become part of the Schengen Convention, a common visa area that allows borderless travel between 29 European nations.
This will mean Spaniards and anyone inside Andalusia of any nationality, EU or not, will be able to enter Gibraltar from the north without passport formalities. British citizens on the other hand who wish to fly to Gibraltar will need to have a visa and queue at passport control to enter a British overseas territory.
Worse, when the EU's biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) comes into force in October, the checks will be even more intrusive. The EES is designed to eventually speed up passport control, but each new visitor to the EU will have data about them collected on the first trip after October, including information listed in travel document (e.g. full name, date of birth, etc.), date and place of entry into and exit from a European country using the EES, facial image and fingerprints (called ‘biometric data’) and where relevant, refusal of entry.
In short, Britons will become second-class citizens in their own territory.
The Telegraph is already getting hot under the collar about the trade aspects of the deal. It reports that EU judges will be able to rule on disputes involving Gibraltar under the leaked proposals. You can imagine the reaction of Sir Bill Cash when he learns Gibraltar will be part of the Schengen area.
This is another Irish border problem in the making. It will do nothing to prevent Gibraltar from becoming MORE Spanish, just as The Windsor Framework is making Northern Ireland more Irish.
It is just one more unforeseen consequence of Brexit and even if the UK rejoins the single market or the EU, it will be difficult if not impossible to reverse things.
