Spain and Gibraltar removed routine border checks between the two territories yesterday, ending a physical land border that had stood for more than three centuries.
The change followed a treaty between the European Union and the United Kingdom, provisionally applied from 15 July after being signed in Brussels on 14 July. The agreement resolved post-Brexit uncertainty over Gibraltar’s relationship with the EU, which had remained unsettled since the UK left the bloc in 2020.
Workers removed the border fence and police checkpoints separating the Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción from Gibraltar. Crowds crossed freely in both directions after the change took effect at midnight.
Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, said the shift removed the daily hassle faced by cross-border workers and families. Around 15,000 workers cross from Spain into Gibraltar each day, according to figures reported by Gibraltar’s government.
Under the new arrangement, entry and exit checks moved to Gibraltar’s airport and port, where UK and Spanish officials would jointly conduct checks. Spain would hold final say over entry decisions. The arrangement mirrored the joint border check model used at Eurostar terminals in London and Paris.
Travellers arriving in Gibraltar from outside the Schengen area, including from the UK, would still need to pass through the EU’s Entry-Exit System, which replaced passport stamps with biometric photographs and fingerprints when it rolled out across Europe in April.
The treaty did not resolve the underlying dispute over Gibraltar’s sovereignty, which Spain has continued to claim since the territory was ceded to Britain in 1713. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the change as historic, while UK Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said the deal secured Gibraltar’s long-term economic interests.
Gibraltar’s Federation of Small Businesses said the smoother border would make it easier for local businesses to recruit and retain staff living in Spain.
