A new era for Gibraltar with the removal of border controls with Spain

Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, said the new arrangements, which will be implemented temporarily with the approval of the UK and European parliaments, represent a “big change” for the territory.

He told the BBC at Gibraltarian government headquarters: “One of the key things that the last eight generations of Gibraltarians have been talking about is the limit on the border.

Picardo described the agreement as promoting a “full and complete flow of people and goods” between Gibraltar and Spain and the European Union, on the one hand.

The most obvious economic benefit for Gibraltar, Picardo says, will be an increase in destinations.

“The business can now see an increase in footfall in Gibraltar which cannot be curbed by queues on the road or border queues at the exits.”

Spain disputes the United Kingdom’s sovereignty over Gibraltar, an issue that rarely comes up in the political arena. In one of the most famous bilateral disputes of recent times, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco introduced a ban on rock in 1969, which was lifted only after his death in 1982.

The Prime Minister described the new arrangement as the opposite of the ban – a logical and mutually beneficial opening of the border.

“It’s going to be big for human relations, it’s going to be big for business, it’s going to be big for border workers, it’s going to be a new dawn,” Picardo says.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Alvarez presented the same thing when he talked about the “new era” of rock.

However, the agreement means that goods sold in Gibraltar must comply with EU regulations, which has not been the case until now.