Gibraltar is confronting the scenario unravelling in London because of Brexit with more concern than assurance, and more resignation than eagerness, but it does want to feel as though it has at least tried to prepare writes Jesús A. Cañas in El Pais.
He quotes Fabian Picardo, Chief Minister of Gibraltar saying that “London and Brussels are playing a poker game, and gambling with people’s lives is not what the voters elected me to do”. Neither he nor his neighbours in the British Overseas Territory, located on the southern coast of Spain, have any idea of what kind of hand they are about to be dealt, though it is fairly obvious that a no-deal Brexit will affect people and vehicles crossing the border as well as supplies for companies and conditions for employees who cross over for work.
Cañas also speaks to John Isola, head of Anglo-Hispano, a company of 300 employees importing alcoholic drinks and supplies for the catering industry, who is worried about importing perishable goods once Britain leaves. Gibraltar has no border inspection post, the nearest being at the port of Algeciras – general goodwill currently means that trucks carrying perishables don’t have to go that extra mile and pass through there. Isola is also worried that a hard Brexit could have a negative impact on tourism. “It would affect what we buy, what we sell and the employment that we generate,” he says.
Many of the current concerns regarding the border crossing between Gibraltar and Spain were sorted out in the 2018 agreement between Spain and the UK, but in the event of a no-deal, this agreement would no longer be valid, according to the Gibraltar authorities. They have also been addressed by Spanish legislation designed to cover a possible no-deal scenario. Meanwhile, the Gibraltar authorities have their own contingency plans with legislation that covers all the citizens’ rights acquired during the years as part of the EU.
Cañas concludes quoting Picardo, who for one, is not willing to say which way the situation will swing. “Nobody knows what the consequences of the coming days will be,” he says, adding, “I think they are going to be vertiginous.”
