British holidaymakers will keep away from lengthy airport queues after border deal agreed

Britain has agreed to a fluid border between the British overseas territory Gibraltar and Spain in a major deal with the European Union after years of Brexit wrangling

The UK and Spain have agreed a deal over the border between Gibraltar and Spain.

Britain has agreed to a fluid border between the British overseas territory and Spain in a deal with the EU. Under the agreement, checks will not be required on people crossing the border.

Travellers arriving by air at Gibraltar airport will show their passports to British and Spanish officials under a dual border checks system. It will mirror the way French and British passport officers check people’s documents on the Eurostar at London’s St Pancras station.

Approximately 15,000 people – over half of Gibraltar’s workforce – cross the land border between Spain and Gibraltar every day. Without a new agreement, the EU’s incoming system of entry and exit controls would have introduced a ‘hard border’ under which every individual passport was checked, raising fears about long queues. People from Gibraltar are holders of full British passports.

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The deal also secures an arrangement for goods and customs to enter Gibraltar across the land border. Talks on rules governing the border have been ongoing since Britain left the European Union in 2020.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the agreement was a “breakthrough” after years of uncertainty and that the UK’s commitment to Gibraltar “remains as solid as the Rock itself”.

He said: “Alongside the government of Gibraltar, we have reached an agreement which protects British sovereignty, supports Gibraltar’s economy and allows businesses to plan for the long-term once again.

“I thank the Chief Minister and his Government for their tireless dedication throughout the negotiations. The UK’s commitment to Gibraltar remains as solid as the Rock itself.”

President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the deal. In a post on X/Twitter, she said: “It safeguards the integrity of Schengen and the single market, while ensuring stability, legal certainty and prosperity for the region.”

Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the deal would “protect future generations of British Gibraltarians and does not in any way affect our British sovereignty”.

“Now is the time to look beyond the arguments of the past and towards a time of renewed co-operation and understanding. Now the deal is done, it’s time to finalise the treaty.”

Mr Lammy held talks with Gibraltar’s leaders, members of the opposition and the business community before leaving the British overseas territory to head to Brussels on Wednesday morning.

Gibraltar was ceded to the UK by Spain in 1713 and the population is heavily in favour of remaining a British overseas territory. The last time it voted on a proposal to share sovereignty with Spain, in 2002, almost 99% of Gibraltarians rejected the move.

Gibraltar also hosts an RAF base at its airport and an important naval facility.

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