1 of 2 | Thousands of Spaniards and Gibraltarians celebrate shortly after midnight as the border fence between Gibraltar and Spain is dismantled in La Linea de la Concepcion, Spain, Wednesday. The dismantling follows five years of talks between the United Kingdom and the European Union and the signing of a treaty to open the border Tuesday. Photo by A. Carrasco Ragel/EPA
July 15 (UPI) — Spain and Gibraltar celebrated just after midnight Wednesday as border checkpoints and walls came down between the two nations after a treaty was signed in Brussels.
At midnight, the police stepped down from their border posts to open the territory, and thousands rushed across the border in both directions, celebrating the new crossing and Spain’s World Cup win against France in the semifinals, The Telegraph reported.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the Spanish border town of La Línea de la Concepción on Wednesday to see the removal of the last section of a border fence. He said an “open wound” was finally closed, The Guardian reported.
“The Gibraltar fence — the last wall in continental Europe — has fallen so that we can take a step towards a new era of coexistence and shared prosperity,” Sánchez said. “This is a deal that has the wellbeing of the 300,000 Andalucíans in the Campo de Gibraltar at its heart and which opens a new phase in the relationship between Spain and the U.K.”
Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, has been British sovereign land since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. When Britain left the European Union in January 2020, travel between Spain and Gibraltar was made more complicated.
While Gibraltar has about 40,000 residents, about 15,000 Spaniards cross into it daily for work, causing long daily lines at the checkpoint where they were fingerprinted and had their passports scanned.
Now, British citizens flying or sailing into Gibraltar will have to be fingerprinted and have their passports checked as Spain takes over EU entrance controls, which is causing some consternation among conservative Brits.
Though Spain still wants full control of Gibraltar, this compromise allows for more cooperation between the two.
Gibraltarian Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the treaty is a new beginning.
“The frontier that has so often divided and constrained our region will now become a place of cooperation and shared opportunity,” he said. “The daily lives of thousands of people will be made easier, our economy will be given greater certainty and Gibraltar’s future will rest on firm legal foundations.
“We have reached this moment without surrendering who we are, without compromising our British sovereignty and without weakening the constitutional protections that define Gibraltar,” Picardo added.
Not everyone was celebrating.
Iain Duncan Smith, former British conservative leader, expressed disappointment.
“This arrangement will in future years be used as a model for weak negotiation. It will be a significant step in the stripping out of hundreds of years of British sovereignty,” Smith said.
Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK, told The Telegraph, “This is a dreadful surrender and the opening of the border means that Gibraltar will never be the same.”
Picardo said the treaty was “among the most significant days in Gibraltar’s modern history.”
“After years of uncertainty, endurance and determined negotiation, we have secured an international treaty that protects Gibraltar, safeguards our sovereignty and opens the way to a more secure and prosperous future,” he said.
“The frontier that has so often divided and constrained our region will now become a place of cooperation and shared opportunity. The daily lives of thousands of people will be made easier, our economy will be given greater certainty and Gibraltar’s future will rest on firm legal foundations.”