EU envoys visit Spain-Gibraltar border to check progress on crossing delays

Seven European Union officials traveled to the Spain-Gibraltar border on Wednesday morning to check whether both sides have implemented Brussels’ recommendations to solve delays for people and vehicles crossing between the two territories.

The European delegation covered the frontier on the Gibraltar side, where around 50 people held up signs calling for “a humanitarian border.”

“The goal of this visit is to better assess whether Spain and the UK have taken steps to apply the recommendations and respond to pending issues,” said Michele Cercone, spokesman for internal affairs for the EU.

The agenda also includes a visit to the Spanish side of the frontier.

EU sources said this latest visit is a follow-up to a mission sent on September 25 of last year after continuous protests from both sides. While Gibraltar complained about long lines at the border as a result of increased checks by Spanish law enforcement, Madrid spoke of a spike in smuggling and illegal tax activities on the Rock.

Spain and Gibraltar have been locked in a stand-off over fishing rights and territorial waters for years

Back then, Brussels concluded that Spain had not violated any EU regulations by increasing border checks, but it did issue some suggestions in letters to Madrid and London. One of the recommendations called for more traffic lanes at the frontier to get vehicles through faster. The EU also called for more selective checks based on risk analysis, and greater information exchange with Britain regarding the continuing issue of tobacco smuggling.

Although Spain said the increased oversight was a response to a hike in illegal activities, Gibraltar viewed it as reprisal for its dropping of concrete blocks into the sea to prevent Spanish trawlers from working in the area. Spain and Gibraltar have been locked in a stand-off over fishing rights and territorial waters for years.

Meanwhile, the British Parliament has demanded the government get “tougher” on Spain in the face of “unacceptable conduct” from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over Gibraltar, which was ceded to England in 1713.

A report by the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee states that ever since the conservative Popular Party came to power in November 2011, the Spanish government has adopted “a tougher line” in order to “increase pressure on Gibraltar and its people.”

The report recommends taking legal action against Spain.