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Spanish border guards step up checks on Britons in surprise Gibraltar move

Spanish border guards have stepped up border checks on non-EU citizens (including many Britons) entering Spain from Gibraltar, demanding that they prove where they are going and staying in the country.

Published: 20 April 2022 16:54 CEST

Spanish border guards step up checks on Britons in surprise Gibraltar move

Spaniards cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar to go to work. Photo: Cristina Quicler/AFP

Spanish border guards have reportedly started implementing stricter border checks on non-EU citizens leaving The Rock for Spain, in a surprise escalation that has surprised everyone including Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

Tweeting this week, Picardo said that the Gibraltarian government has received “reports of a change in approach to Non-Gibraltarian, Third Country Nationals, crossing the frontier into Spain,” and added that he “will be taking up these issues with the UK and Spanish authorities.”

We are receiving reports of a change in approach to Non-Gibraltarian, Third Country Nationals, crossing the frontier into Spain. We will be taking up these issues with the UK and Spanish authorities. pic.twitter.com/Xl1nnITHjR

— Fabian Picardo (@FabianPicardo) April 18, 2022

It is believed that Spanish authorities are now demanding non-EU nationals travelling on foot, including British passport holders, are able to demonstrate both travel and accommodation plans with bookings before allowing them to enter into Spain.

Similar checks are not being made on travellers crossing the border by car, however, The Local understands.

Yet, as of Monday reports have emerged that many British citizens, even Gibraltarian blue card residence permit holders, are being denied entry in Spain, but not non-EU nationals – including Britons – who already have official Spanish residency, nor Gibraltarians with red residence cards.

The Spanish Policía Nacional, however, claims it is maintaining the same border checks it always has and that nothing will change until a full Brexit agreement is finally made.

Negotiations on a deal outlining Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU are ongoing, and it remains to be seen if Gibraltar – a British overseas territory that voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU by 96 percent – will have some kind of special arrangement to maintain frictionless access to the Schengen area.

A Gibraltar-based source familiar with the negotiations explained to The Local that “we have had temporary bridging measures agreed with Spain about how the frontier operates” until an agreement is made, but that “it seems these bridging measures were not respected” this week.

On the ground many Llanitos (as Gibraltarians are known) believe the stricter border checks coincided with replacement border guards brought in to cover Easter holiday breaks who were unfamiliar with the bridging measures, or that they could be related to the recent arrival of two nuclear submarines (one British, one American) that docked in Gibraltar.

Maintaining a fluid border arrangement is essential for both Spaniards and Gibraltarians as over 10,000 Spaniards cross the border to work in Gibraltar every day, and many Brits based in Gibraltar have family and property in Spain.

But domestic politics over the border could also play a role in the future relationship.

If, as seems probable, the Spanish right wins the next general election, many in Gibraltar fear that any deal that is eventually made will be rendered useless and immediately renegotiated, at best, or, at worst, torn up.

The Spanish right has long used blood and soil nationalist rhetoric against Gibraltar to whip-up political support in the Campo de Gibraltar area of Cádiz province, one of the poorest parts of Spain.

Although it is hoped a deal based on the framework agreement signed by both Britain and Spain on December 31st 2020 will be made at some point in the first half of 2022, it seems Picardo and his government are covering all their bases and preparing for the potentiality of a no-deal scenario.

Some weeks ago, Gibraltar’s government began advising citizens on how to prepare for and mitigate the consequences of a potential failed negotiation, and is expected to provide more information on the increased border checks at some point this week.

This is not the first time there has been confusion at the Spain-Gibraltar border, however.

In 2021, The Local reported how a British national was refused entry into Spain because of a missing passport stamp that Spanish border officials had themselves forgotten to stamp, highlighting the confusion and potential misunderstandings that can happen while negotiations are still ongoing.

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INTERVIEW: 'A lot of people think Brexit is done, but it's not for Brits in Europe'

In the early days of 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the EU and completed the final stage of Brexit, many British citizens returned to their home countries in Europe only to face a grilling at the border.

Though the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) technically guaranteed their right to live and work in the countries they’d settled in before Brexit, there was widespread confusion about these fundamental rights and many were treated like new arrivals.

Over time, the chaos at the airports subsided as border officials and airlines were given clearer guidance on the treatment of Brits. But three years later, a number of Brits who live on the continent still face problems when it comes to proving their post-Brexit rights.

This was the reason campaign group British in Europe decided to set up their new EU-funded ICE project. Starting this year in March, it aims to build valuable connections between UK citizens abroad and mentor the next generation of civil rights advocates around the continent. The acronym stands for ‘Inform, Empower, Connect’ and the project’s organisers describe it as “the first project of its kind”.

“It’s a completely innovative project – especially the fact that it’s across so many countries,” Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe and one of the project’s founders, told The Local.

Bringing together groups from 11 EU member states, the project aims to train up volunteers to understand both the Withdrawal Agreement and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as learning skills like advocacy and communication, using real-life civil rights cases that are referred to British in Europe.

“The ultimate goal is to amplify the messages across the wider group,” said Golding. “You start with the volunteers, they go back to their groups, then the people that we train, they go back and train people. Then they pass on that knowledge to the wider groups, on their Facebook accounts and through social media, and hopefully it all snowballs, not just in their countries but across the EU.”

‘Far-reaching repercussions’

So many years after Brexit, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a need for a project like ICE that empowers Brits to protect their rights. Indeed, the future of groups like British in Europe and regional groups like British in Germany and Spain-based group EuroCitizens felt uncertain just a year or two ago.

But Golding says there are still serious issues cropping up for Brits in several countries around Europe – they just have a different quality to the problems that arose at the start.

“In some ways it’s needed even more because as we predicted right at the beginning, at the first stage of implementation, you’ve got the more routine cases,” she explained.

“What we’re seeing now is not as many cases, but when the cases come up, they’re complex. They can have such far-reaching repercussions on people’s lives. And of course, memories start to fade. A lot of people think Brexit is already done, but it’s not.”

Volunteers in British in Europe ICE project

The volunteers of the British in Europe ICE project pose for a photo at the kick-off meeting in Brussels on May 21st, 2024. Photo courtesy of British In Europe

Though the rights set out in the Withdrawal Agreement apply across the continent, different countries have taken different approaches to implementing them.

That means that while in Germany, for example, UK citizens simply had to declare that they lived in the country, people in neighbouring Denmark had to apply for their rights.

This led to a notorious situation in Denmark in which as many as 2,000 Brits were threatened with deportation after not applying in time or completing the right application process. According to Golding, this had a lot to do with the fact that people who arrived in 2020 weren’t given the same information as other UK migrants who arrived before.

In Sweden, meanwhile, the situation is still difficult for many Brits who lived there prior to Brexit.

“There have been issues with an anomalously high numbers of refusals compared to other countries, and they seem to be taking a very strict approach on late applications,” Golding explained.

Portugal has been another difficult case. Although the country opted for a declaratory system where Brits could simply exchange old residence documents for a new ID card after Brexit, reports suggest that the authorities have taken years to issue these cards, leaving many of the some 34,000 Brits in the country in limbo.

“While people are still waiting to have their status confirmed and have their card in their hand, it’s difficult to access a whole range of services, like health services, or applying for jobs or dealing with the authorities, or even going to the bank,” Golding said. “All of these problems just affect people’s lives.”

A French border guard checks a passport at the border

A French border guard checks a passport at the border. Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP

There are also concerns about the EU’s new exit and entry system (EES), due to come into force in October, which is based on biometric documentation.

“We still do not have clear data on how many people in declaratory countries like Germany, where it wasn’t compulsory to apply for the card, don’t actually have a card,” Golding said. “How is that going to play out if it’s a document-based digitalised system?”

A lack of support

In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was still available to support NGOs in Europe helping Brits with their migration and civil rights issues. But that temporary funding soon expired, leaving groups like British in Europe largely on their own.

“The whole point is people’s lives change at very different paces,” Golding said. “And now this project is really going to start to pick up some of those cases and report on those issues, which is really crucial and exciting for the precedent that it sets, and it’s very clearly necessary still, because people don’t just sort their lives in the 18 months that the FCDO chose to supply that funding.”

This feeling of being left alone and increasingly isolated from the UK is one that many Brits in Europe have felt in the aftermath of Brexit. But the upcoming UK election on July 4th could be a game-changer.

This time, following a change in the law, Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years will be able to vote for the first time.

Polling station in the UK

A polling station in the UK. Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

When it comes to the election, the message from British in Europe is clear: “Make your voice count now, make your vote count, make sure you use it,” Golding said.

With the June 18th registration deadline fast approaching, BiE is advising UK citizens abroad to apply for a proxy vote as soon as possible, rather than relying on a postal vote from abroad. Since the 15-year rule was abolished on January 16th, more than 100,000 British citizens have registered to vote, according to official statistics. It is unclear how many were registered before the change in the law.

With an estimated 4.7 million Brits currently living abroad – 1.3 million of whom are in the EU – this could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape, Golding says. But most significantly, the change is creating a feeling of connection and belonging that wasn’t there before.

Nurturing this sense of belonging is one of the main goals of ICE.

With these bridges being built, British in Europe hopes to create a network of support that spans across borders.

“Now we’ve met. We’re going to meet,” said Golding. “We know we’re going to meet again in Berlin in October and then we’ll meet again in the new year in 2025 as well. It means a huge amount because even British in Europe, our steering team, we’ve only met physically three times.”

This opens up the possibility of people sharing their knowledge from country to country, Golding explained.

“There is crossover and the reassurance of having that EU wide view and knowing that you’re not alone and knowing that in this country, we managed to get this solution,” she said. “And then you can go back and say to the authorities in your country, well, in that country they did that – all of that helps. It’s really good.”

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