GIBRALTAR TO ALIGN WITH SCHENGEN AREA IN TIME FOR SUMMER HOLIDAYS FOLLOWING POST-BREXIT DEAL - The Independent 15/4 by Simon Calder
Exclusive: Treaty ‘removing all physical barriers between Spain and Gibraltar’ will take effect on 15 July
Three months from today, British travellers to Gibraltar will have to comply with EU red tape – including having their biometrics registered. The change will take place just ahead of the main school summer holidays for England and Wales.
A post-Brexit deal on the geopolitical future of the British Overseas Territory was finally concluded last year. The agreement between the EU and the UK “is expected to enter into provisional application on 15 July 2026”, the European Council has said.
After years of negotiation over the status of Gibraltar, the UK government accepted the only workable solution for the territory is to align with the Schengen area – the passport-free zone that includes almost all the European Union, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
The European Council said: “The main objective of the EU-UK agreement in respect of Gibraltar is to secure the future prosperity of the whole region. This objective will be reached by removing all physical barriers on persons and goods circulating between Spain and Gibraltar, while fully safeguarding Schengen, the EU’s Single Market, and its Customs Union.”
At the time the deal was signed, then-foreign secretary David Lammy, said the settlement had tackled “the last major unresolved issue from our decision to leave the EU, providing much-needed certainty for people and businesses in Gibraltar”.
