Albares describes the agreement on Gibraltar as "absolutely historic": "Three centuries later, we are going to shake hands again"

In an interview on 'Cadena SER', the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has described as "absolutely historic" the agreement on Gibraltar that this Tuesday will be signed by the European Union and the United Kingdom in Brussels, and with which the Fence that for centuries has separated the British colony from Spanish territory will disappear. "Three centuries later, Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar are going to shake hands again from midnight tomorrow," he stated.

The minister has defended that the agreement also represents the closing of the "last piece of the Brexit puzzle," considering that it puts an end to the only issue that remained pending after the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union. In this regard, he has assured that the pact inaugurates "a new era" both in relations between Spain and the United Kingdom and between the European Union and the United Kingdom.  

Likewise, Albares has placed this pact within a broader foreign policy strategy, which, according to him, has allowed for the weaving of "extraordinary neighborhood relations" with countries such as Morocco and Algeria, in addition to the friendship treaty with France, which, he assured, "despite the PP, will go ahead."

The signing in Brussels and the end of controls at the Fence

The European Union and the United Kingdom will formalize this Tuesday in Brussels the agreement that will regulate Gibraltar's relationship with the community bloc after Brexit, a pact that will mark the beginning of a new stage at the border between Spain and the Rock. Its provisional application will begin on July 15, from which date the Fence will disappear as a border control point.

The signing will take place in the Belgian capital and will include the participation of European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, responsible for the negotiations on behalf of the European Commission, and the British Secretary of State for Europe, Stephen Doughty. The event will also be attended by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, who have accompanied the negotiating delegations throughout the process.

With the provisional entry into force of the agreement, passport controls will no longer be carried out at the land border and will move to Gibraltar airport. A double control system will be established there, involving both Gibraltarian authorities and the Spanish National Police.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will travel on Wednesday to La Línea de la Concepción, accompanied by Albares, to stage the beginning of this new era and the disappearance of the Fence, one of the main symbols of the border between Spain and the British territory.