Spain and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement in principle on controls on the border between Gibraltar and Spain. The British Crown Colony remains with it despite Brexit Schengen area to hear.
The 34.000 British residents of Gibraltar will therefore continue to have free access to the 26 Schengen countries that signed the Schengen agreement in 1985 on the abolition of passport controls.
For the time being, a transitional phase of six months applies during which border traffic can continue undisturbed. The agreement is very important for both Spain and Gibraltar. Every day, more than 15.000 people cross the border to work on the other side of the border, including 10.000 Spaniards.
In the 2016 Brexit referendum, 96 percent of Gibraltarians voted to continue EU membership.
Gibraltar has been a bone of contention between the UK and Spain for years
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of 6,8 km² and a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. Gibraltar was captured from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession by an Anglo-Dutch force. The area was then handed over to the Kingdom of Great Britain “in perpetuity” in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht.
The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major bone of contention in the British-Spanish relationship because Spain lays claim to Gibraltar. Gibraltarians rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in referendums in 1967 and again in 2002. Under the 2006 Gibraltar Constitution, Gibraltar runs its own affairs, although some powers, such as defense and foreign affairs, remain the responsibility of the United Kingdom government.
Source: NOS.nl
