MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Spain pledges to keep border “fluidity” with Gibraltar following Brexit
“Our will is for there to be no worsening of circumstances for people living in the Campo, and less so for people who work in Gibraltar and cross every day” Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alfonso Dastis, sought to reassure cross-border workers during a visit to La Linea, insisting Madrid would work to minimize the impact of Brexit on Spanish citizens, “and very especially those from the Campo and La Linea” who cross every day to Gibraltar.
Dastis signaled that Spain would seek to ensure frontier fluidity after Brexit. “We are not going to implement any visa and as for fluidity, we are confident that this situation will not be an obstacle,” he said. Nonetheless he cautioned that outside the EU, there may be a need for tighter controls as a result of the security situation.
“Our will is for there to be no worsening of circumstances for people living in the Campo, and less so for people who work in Gibraltar and cross every day,” he said.
Dastis was speaking in La Linea’s town hall, where he addressed guests from across the political and business communities in the Campo before speaking at an event organized by the Grupo Joly, which publishes Europa Sur newspaper.
Reacting to concerns about border flow expressed by La Linea mayor Juan Franco, the Spanish foreign minister said: “I can assure you that we are not going to close the [border] fence.”
“I hope that there won’t be a hard Brexit, but we want to maintain the best relations with the United Kingdom and we don’t want to inconvenience or create a prejudicial situation for the citizens of this area.”
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rules-
-
-
Read all commentsSkippy, very simple really, if you don't like it don't read and comment on it.
Sep 21st, 2017 - 11:07 pm +2Foreign Minister Dastis: « I am for “Gibraltar, Spanish”, but you have to be smart. (8 feb, 2017 copeaxarquia.es).
Sep 18th, 2017 - 10:12 am +1'Unfortunately' the Spanish government might be right about self-determination not applying to Catalonia but they are wrong about Gibraltar: Gibraltar – Self-Determination (single page): https://www.academia.edu/33409907/Gibraltar_Self_-Determination
Nice to see that the residents living in Campo and La Linea have made their opinions known to FM Datis.
Conqueror
Sep 18th, 2017 - 03:51 pm +1Good point. But I expect it is something to do with the local Spanish economy and the 10,000 Spanish people employed in the area.
'Mayors of the region around the British overseas territory of Gibraltar have hit out at the Spanish Government for risking their lives just to score poltical points.
Alfonso Dastis, the Spanish Foreign Minister, visited Campo, which borders Gibraltar, amid growing concerns in the region.
Local mayor Juan Franco said that the workers in his town depend “almost entirely” on Gibraltar for its economic activity and warned against Spanish provocation.' (D.Express 17.9)
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!