Gibraltar: British tourists will have to show their passports in this destination - as David Lammy close to finalising EU deal
Brits arriving in Gibraltar will have to show their passports to Spanish or EU border guards when they land at the airport - if a UK deal is finalised.
It comes as Britain and Gibraltar have agreed a post-Brexit deal that would hand control of the territory’s border to Europe. David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, was in Gibraltar on Tuesday night for talks over the final parameters of the agreement, which will see Gibraltar join the bloc’s Schengen free movement zone.
It will use a similar system to that at St Pancras station in London, where Eurostar passengers first pass through British Border Force agents, before French border guards check the passports on British soil to ensure an easy exit at the destination.
British officers are stationed in France and Belgium to allow travellers to leave the station without controls. This arrangement could give the Spanish, or EU border guards, any final say over who is allowed to enter Gibraltar, even if they have passed through Gibraltarian border guards.
After striking an agreement with Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, Mr Lammy headed to Brussels on Wednesday to try and get the deal over the line with EU Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic and Jose Manuel Albares, Spain’s foreign minister. The expected deal will see Gibraltar join the Schengen zone to keep its borders with Spain open.
It would become an associate member of the passport-free zone, which encompasses 29 European countries and would allow the free flow of people between the Rock and Spain.
The arrangement would mean that Britons arriving on the British territory will have to show their passports to Spanish or EU border guards when they arrive at the airport. There are some concerns that the deal could still collapse in the final negotiations between Mr Lammy, Mr Sefcovic and Mr Albares because of Conservative opposition in both the UK and Spain.