Gibraltar says border will start to come down before 15 July

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares held a meeting this Wednesday in Madrid with Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabián Picardo on in Madrid to discuss some aspects of the implementation of the agreement between the United Kingdom, the European Union and Spain, which will govern Gibraltar's relations with the EU after Brexit.

After the meeting, Picardo appeared before the media to discuss some of the details. One of the main points was the demolition of the border fence itself. The Gibraltar Government confirmed that the process of removing all physical barriers will begin before 15 July, to ensure that Gibraltar fully complies with the obligations set out in the treaty.

The new controls at the airport and port to be carried out by the Gibraltarian authorities and the Spanish National Police, should also be ready by then.

Picardo pointed out that 15 July is the date that London and Brussels have agreed for the provisional application of an agreement that is still pending ratification by both sides. Schengen controls will be in place by then at the airport. On possible deadlines regarding the removal of the border, he did not want to give details: "It's a lot of fence, we can't do it all in one day."

Picardo has also shown his willingness to work to make this agreement, which will put an end to the physical border between Spain and Gibraltar, a reality: "I will not believe it and I will not stop working until I see the first Gibraltarian citizen, the first Gibraltarian resident, the first resident of Campo de Gibraltar, cross where there has always been a border without having to present any documents and be able to pass from one side to the other without having to go through any formalities."

The round of meetings will take Foreign Minister Albares this Thursday to the Campo de Gibraltar where he will meet with various officials in the area to discuss details of the agreement.

The mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, hopes that this visit will serve to "clarify many doubts". In a previous statement, he asked the minister to "clarify once and for all" whether Spain "is going to have the right to veto an agreement that could harm our country", regretting that Spain has not been active enough in the negotiations between the EU and the United Kingdom.

Landaluce regretted that "little or nothing is being said" about the situation of cross-border workers, their pensions, the so-called zone of shared prosperity, or whether the port of Algeciras is going to be "at a disadvantage in the face of the increased benefits that are going to be given to the Rock", he listed.

"There are still many unknowns surrounding an agreement on which the immediate future of more than 300,000 Spaniards living on this side of the border depends," said the Algeciras councillor, who pointed out that the text "raises the demolition of the fence as a banner", something which, he said, "the Government is selling us as its great achievement" when "there are much more important issues for the daily life of our people and companies in the region about which nothing has been said so far".

"I believe that Minister Albares has a golden opportunity [this Thursday] to explain to the legitimate representatives of the citizens of our region the details of the agreement that are still unknown," he pointed out, referring to issues such as taxation, the environment, the control of goods, labour standards and social protection, as well as the situation regarding the use of the airport, and the vacancy of the post of special delegate of the ministry in the Campo de Gibraltar.