Spain has the final say on who enters Gibraltar under a preliminary deal on border arrangements for British territory, Foreign Secretary Arancha Gonzalez Laya told El Pais in a statement. interview.
The responsibility for overseeing the new terms of the Schengen agreement without a passport for access to the port and airport of Gibraltar, as envisaged in the agreement, would be that of Spain, Gonzalez told the newspaper.
“Apparently there must be a Spanish presence to perform the minimal tasks of Schengen control,” she said.
However, under the deal, none of the governments has given in to their claims to sovereignty over the territory, she told El Pais.
“What we have seen is a paradigm shift that is not concessions but a convergence of interests between Gibraltarians and Spaniards, who are both pro-European,” Gonzalez said. “This is the fruit of Brexit.”
Separately, Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s prime minister, said that only the Gibraltar authorities would decide who would enter the territory.
“Under the New Year’s Agreement, only Gibraltar will decide who enters Gibraltar and Spanish officers will not exercise any control in Gibraltar at the airport or in the port now or in four years,” he said on Twitter. “This is our country.”
Spain and the UK signed a last-minute deal on December 31 to avoid tighter controls on the movement of people and goods into the territory at the entrance to the Mediterranean, which has been under British control since 1713.
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Within a four-year implementation period, officials from the European border agency will assist Frontex with port and airport controls, with Spain responsible for overseeing the new Schengen regulations.
The UK remains steadfast in its support of Gibraltar and its sovereignty is guaranteed, Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said in a statement on Thursday.
(Updates with comments from the Prime Minister of Gibraltar in the seventh paragraph.)