Spain’s mayor warns that hard border with Gibraltar would be a disaster for his city and that it could fall into the hands of criminals as he asks Madrid to agree a post-Brexit deal

Workers traveling from mainland Spain to Gibraltar could be forced to endure agonizing 14-hour queues if the two cannot agree on a post-Brexit deal, a mayor of the border town has warned.

Juan Franco, who runs La Linea in the north of the British overseas territory, said Spain and Gibraltar’s failure to reach an agreement could have devastating consequences for the city’s struggling economy – including the migration of thousands into the region’s organized criminal gangs, if they cannot work.

Since December 2020, a post-Brexit agreement between the UK, Spain and the EU has allowed Gibraltar citizens to remain part of the border-free Schengen area, alongside other EU agreements.

As a result of this agreement, Spanish border guards have allowed Gibraltar residents to enter and leave Spain without stamping their passports or using their 90-day travel limit.

In return, over 15,000 workers from Spain – who make up more than half of the working population on the Rock – were allowed to enter Gibraltar without any problem.

Since December 2020, a post-Brexit agreement between the UK, Spain and the EU has allowed Gibraltar citizens to remain part of the border-free Schengen area, alongside other EU agreements. Pictured: A man looks at the Rock of Gibraltar from La Linea (file image)

But almost four years later, no lasting agreement has been reached.

The situation has become all the more urgent as the implementation of the European Union’s new digital border system approaches.

The EU’s entry/exit system (EES), originally due to be introduced on November 10, plans to scrap passport controls and stamps and replace the current system with a series of biometric tests.

This would require non-EU passport holders, including Brits, to present fingerprints and facial scans upon their first entry into the Schengen area.

The continuation of a no-deal between Gibraltar and Spain will inevitably make it much more difficult for workers to travel from the mainland and passport stamps will become a necessity.

Franco experienced a small taste of such a scenario when Spain decided earlier this month to unexpectedly introduce border control on the border with Gibraltar, leading to excessively long queues.

That’s what Gibraltar’s Prime Minister Fabian Picardo said at the time He had “no choice” but to “make mutual arrangements” when entering Gibraltar if the Spanish government did not lift border controls by 7am.

The Gibraltar government said a “huge queue” formed at the border at 7.30am “as a result of the measures implemented by Spain”.

Border controls were then lifted before resuming later in the morning, the Gibraltar government added, before both sides suspended controls at around 11.30am.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has called on the British government to agree to a deal on Gibraltar. “It’s time for the UK to say yes,” he said

The situation has become all the more urgent as the implementation of the European Union’s new digital border system approaches. Pictured: Pedestrians and drivers cross the border from Spain to Gibraltar, in front of the Rock of Gibraltar, in La Linea (file image)

The Gibraltar government has rejected any plans to deploy Spanish police to the territory

A statement from the Gibraltar government said a Spanish police inspector who was “not authorized by his superior to give this instruction” ordered that Gibraltarians must have their passports stamped in order to enter Spain.

Speaking to The Telegraph on Wednesday, Franco warned that workers could wait up to 14 hours once full Schengen border rules were enforced and called on Madrid to reach an agreement.

“We will return to a place similar to that of 1969,” the mayor said, referring to a moment in Spain’s history when the then-leader, military dictator Francisco Franco, closed the border with Gibraltar and decimated La Linea’s economy .

He added: “Before this moment, decisions should have been made to find solutions that benefit the entire area on both sides of the border.”

“Now we’re up to our necks and close to drowning.”

Last year, Madrid and London came close to reaching an agreement but failed to agree on the joint police operation at Gibraltar Airport, which transported 473,803 passengers through the airport in 2023 alone.

Many of these passengers then travel on to nearby Spanish resorts such as Malaga and Marbella, which are popular with British tourists.

Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said: “It is time for the UK to say yes to a balanced and generous agreement that we put on the table a long time ago.”

“The UK must now decide whether it wants a system restricting the movement of people in Gibraltar or the generous and balanced agreement on offer.”

However, the Gibraltar government has rejected any plans to deploy Spanish police to the territory.

Fabian Picardo, the prime minister of Gibraltar, has said he would not accept “Spanish troops on the ground”, the Daily Telegraph reported.

His government had previously threatened its own border controls if no agreement was reached between the two parties.

This could potentially lead to delays at the border.

The disputed territory has been a thorn in the side of Anglo-Spanish relations for centuries since Gibraltar was separated from the United Kingdom in 1713.