Brexit: Spain launches audacious bid to seize control of Gibraltar airport
An EasyJet Airbus A320 plane takes off from Gibraltar Airport.
PA
Spain has launched an audacious bid to seize control of Gibraltar’s airport in a move which could scupper the Rock’s post-Brexit arrangement with Madrid.
Spanish officials have proposed bringing Gibraltar’s airport under Madrid’s jurisdiction even though it is located on an RAF base.
The move has frustrated British diplomats and leading figures from the Rock, with many accusing Spain of threatening Gibraltar’s sovereignty.
Vice-Admiral Sir David Steel, the Governor of Gibraltar, said: “The Spanish have asked for a regulatory framework over the management of the airport which implies Spanish jurisdiction, which is not something that Gibraltar can tolerate.”
Cars queue up at the Border/Passport control crossing in Gibraltar
PA
He added: “In the New Year’s Eve Framework Agreement of 2020, the issue of sovereignty was put aside. Now Spain has reintroduced it.”
Gibraltar, which similarly to Northern Ireland shares a land border with the European Union, was dealt a blow when the United Kingdom left Brussels’ customs union and single market.
Spain previously agreed to unilaterally grant free border passage to workers and tourists to avoid disruption under a temporary accord.
However, with the deal far from cemented, negotiators hope to establish an agreement which will create a common travel area between Gibraltar and the Schengen zone.
General view of the Border/Passport control crossing in Gibraltar
PA
Such an agreement would remove most immigration controls at the border.
The time to reach an agreement is also narrowing with Spain holding a consequential snap election on July 23.
Despite the conservative Popular Party being ahead in the opinion polls, hard-right MPs from Vox could hold the balance of power in Madrid and make it even more difficult to overcome the impasse on Gibraltar.
Vox recently called for the closure of Gibraltar’s mile-long land border with Spain in an attempt to “suffocate” the Rock.
Anglo-Spanish relations have become fraught amid post-Brexit talks about Gibraltar
Reuters
A senior Spanish official told The Times: “If they come to power the deal is as good as dead.”
A British diplomatic source added: “We now have a very narrow window to get a deal over the line.
“It is possible, but we are not optimistic. There are certain red lines which we are not prepared to compromise over.”
Spanish officials have blamed British negotiators and Gibraltar’s Government for failing to reach an agreement after claiming a treaty was put on the table in December.
Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, leaves the Cabinet Office in Westminster
PA
However, the Rock’s chief minister Fabian Picardo said: “All involved know that I have been a force for good in this process, seeking to move things forward and to avoid the pitfalls that all of us historically know could lead us to not reaching an agreement.”
He added: “The only time I would be a block to progress is when the issue proposed is such as sovereignty, jurisdiction or control and then I won’t just be difficult, I will be the stumbling block on which everything falls.”
Gibraltarians have consistently and emphatically rejected recent efforts to pivot away from London towards Madrid.
Almost 99 per cent of voters rejected shared sovereignty in 2002.
The UK Government last year reaffirmed its position on Gibraltar by handing the Rock city status.