Spain to Check Gibraltar Arrivals Under Post-Brexit Border Deal

Published: 27 February 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

Spain will begin passport checks on travellers arriving in Gibraltar under the terms of a new post-Brexit agreement between the United Kingdom, the European Union and the British overseas territory, marking a significant development in border arrangements a decade after the UK’s EU departure. The draft treaty, published on Thursday, seeks to create a more fluid land border while meeting EU requirements for external frontier controls.

Under the proposed arrangements, routine passport checks at the land frontier between Spain and Gibraltar — where about 15,000 people cross daily — would be eliminated, allowing free movement for workers and residents. Instead, dual border controls will apply at Gibraltar’s airport and seaport for people arriving from outside the Schengen area, including flights from the UK. In these cases, travellers will first be processed by Gibraltarian officials and then “second line” checks will be carried out by Spanish authorities on behalf of the EU, ensuring compliance with Schengen entry rules.

This arrangement reflects the unusual status of Gibraltar in the post-Brexit settlement: the territory remains outside the Schengen zone, but its international entry points will operate a hybrid control system so that people can move freely across the land border without routine passport checks while still satisfying EU requirements for Schengen border controls.

Under the draft treaty, Spanish officials will have the authority to conduct arrests, searches and interviews as part of border control operations where justified. The agreement is structured to protect UK sovereignty over Gibraltar and does not alter the territory’s constitutional status, though it places Spain in a formal role in managing external entry procedures.

The land frontier’s 1.2-kilometre fence known as “La Verja,” a longstanding symbol of division, is expected to be removed once the agreement is fully implemented. The move has been welcomed by Spanish politicians as ending “the last wall in continental Europe,” while Gibraltar’s leaders describe it as a way to bring certainty to daily life and economic activity after years of uncertainty over border arrangements.

Critics of the deal, particularly among some UK political figures, have warned that giving Spain a role in entry and residency decisions could be seen as diluting British authority, and have called for detailed parliamentary scrutiny of the treaty text before ratification.

Final approval of the agreement must still be secured by the UK and Gibraltar governments, as well as the European Parliament, before the new border regime can take effect, which officials hope will coincide with the activation of the EU’s updated external border systems in April.

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