“Today (yesterday) a new time begins, full of opportunities, for the 300,000 Andalusians living in the Campo de Gibraltar,” said the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech at the ceremonial demolition of the Gibraltar Fence, which took place the day after the signing of the United Kingdom-European Union Agreement in Brussels.
Sánchez wanted to emphasize that, from now on, both sides of the Fence will mutually benefit from the fall of the “last wall of continental Europe” and he exemplified this with the 300,000 Andalusians living in the Campo de Gibraltar and, in particular, with the more than 15,000 workers who cross the Fence every day —70% of whom are Spanish nationals— and who represent half of the Gibraltar workforce.
During a brief speech, Sanchez defined the Fence as “an open wound” for decades, before stating that the agreement that came into force yesterday, “is a fair agreement that protects our interests and fully meets the objectives we had set in the negotiation.”
He summarized those objectives as “the free movement of people,” regarding which Spain will exercise Schengen competencies at the port and airport of Gibraltar; “free movement of goods,” on which he pointed out that “a customs union between the EU and Gibraltar is established and that indirect fiscal convergence is achieved, which will put an end to historical imbalances”; finally, in the field of transport -he added- “the airport of Gibraltar is opened to civil traffic with a shared management model, to offer new opportunities for connectivity, tourism, investment, and development throughout the Campo de Gibraltar.”
Pedro Sánchez added that “if there is a chapter that summarizes the spirit of this agreement, it is the one dedicated to people.” And in this aspect, he wanted to emphasize that “the great priority of the Government of Spain has always been to safeguard the rights of cross-border workers and for this reason, he assured that ”their unemployment benefits will be guaranteed; their pensions will be protected and can be complemented up to the Spanish minimums, and there will no longer be delays in the payment of benefits due to administrative discoordination.”
In addition, he added, ”any EU citizen with legal residence in Spain will be able to engage in paid activity in Gibraltar, without discrimination and on equal terms”. Finally, he informed that the Agreement creates a “social fund to promote cohesion and solidarity between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar, which will be funded by the EU and the United Kingdom, and will contribute decisively to alleviate inequalities on both sides, with concrete actions in training and employment to offer opportunities to the youth of this land.”
Sanchez was accompanied at the event by the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, the British Ambassador to Spain, Alex Ellis; and all the mayors of the Campo de Gibraltar region.
The signing of the agreement took place on Tuesday at the Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission, where Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and British Minister Stephen Doughty, along with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, formalized the commitment.