Eight years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, reaching a deal over the post-Brexit future of Gibraltar is the priority of citizens on both sides of the Rock as foreign ministers from Britain and Spain meet today to try to reach a long-awaited deal.
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, met his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, in London on Monday for talks over a deal which has been in limbo since Brexit came into force in 2020.
Most Gibraltarians would back a final deal which permits free movement for people and goods, which is crucial to keep the Rock’s economy alive because it depends on about 15,000 Spanish workers who arrive every day for work in Gibraltar.
However, an agreement has been held up over objections to Spain’s suggestion that Spanish police are stationed at Gibraltar airport, as well as attempts by Madrid to impose an EU tax regime on the British Overseas Territory.
Gibraltar has no VAT but Spain has said that if it wants to enjoy free movement, its tax system should be closer to EU levels.
“We fail to understand how, after the framework agreement was reached in 2020, political leaders are still unable to reach an agreement which provides future certainty for the people on the Spanish side of the border and Gibraltar,” George Dyke, vice-president of the Cross Border Group, which includes Gibraltarians and Spaniards, told i.
Spaniards share the same sense of frustration.
“We want the politicians to reach a deal so that it gives people on both sides some idea how their future will be,” Angel Serrano, a leader of the General Workers Union in Algeciras, a port near Gibraltar, said.
The Gibraltar government has objected to the Spanish tax change proposals.
“We do not accept Spain imposing tax levels on us. That is something which we fix. We may be willing to move closer to EU levels but that is something to be agreed,” a spokesman for the Gibraltar government told i.
Under the terms of the temporary deal reached between London and Madrid in 2020, most people crossing the border are waved through by border officials.
Spain’s left-wing government supports free movement at the border but insists on Spanish police at the airport. One solution could be to station officers from Frontex, the EU border force, at the airport.
Britain has expressed its wish to reach a deal but only as long as the Gibraltarian authorities support all its terms.
A spokeswoman for the British Embassy in Madrid told i that Mr Lammy and Mr Albares were discussing Gibraltar among other matters, but no deal would be reached without Gibraltarian authorities being present.
The 38,000 inhabitants of the Rock, who voted by 96 per cent in favour of remaining part of Europe in the 2016 Brexit referendum, are keen for an agreement to be reached so they can move forwards.
Gibraltar is the only British territory linked to the Schengen landmass by a landmass, so its future is closely linked to the EU.