Brussels and London put Gibraltar on the right track

As the nine-year anniversary of the referendum that led to the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union approaches, the final outstanding chapter of Brexit was finally closed yesterday: the status of Gibraltar. In four-party talks led by the British Government and the European Commission, in which our country played a secondary role, it was agreed that Gibraltar will become part of the Schengen Area, which allows the free movement of people, goods, and services between 29 European countries.

It was the only possible solution to avoid the creation of a hard border between the isthmus and Spain, which would have been extremely damaging to both Gibraltar's economy and the neighboring region, one of the most depressed in Andalusia and heavily dependent on trade with the Rock. However, it has received harsh criticism from the Conservative opposition in the United Kingdom. All Tory prime ministers after Brexit rejected a pact on these terms, but Labour's Keir Starmer has opted to adopt a pragmatic stance in relations with the continent, and Gibraltar has been a recurring obstacle to achieving this.

From now on, the National Police will carry out passport controls at both the airport (illegally built on Spanish soil) and the port of Gibraltar. Sánchez welcomed the agreement reached without renouncing our country's traditional claims to the isthmus, but the truth is that an opportunity like this will likely never arise again to redress the historical grievance of having a colonial entity of a foreign country on Spanish territory.