A Spanish police officer who on two occasions has issued orders to tighten border controls and stamp the passports of Gibraltar red ID card holders has filed a complaint in a La Linea court seeking judicial clarity on what he believes could be a breach of EU law.
Under interim arrangements agreed by Spain, the UK, the European Commission and Gibraltar, Spanish border guards have allowed red ID card holders to enter Spain without undergoing the checks applicable to non-EU nationals, which after Brexit include Gibraltar-resident British passport holders.
That means red ID card holders can cross without a stamp that would trigger the 90-in-180-day limit on stays, as well as potentially requiring them to confirm their reason for travel and other arrangements.
Conversely, Gibraltar immigration officials allow EU nationals to enter Gibraltar with just an ID card, rather than a passport.
The interim arrangements were put in place pending the outcome of ongoing talks for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc.
But according to Campo newspaper Europa Sur, the situation has caused increasing concern for a senior officer at the border who believes that, in the absence of any written order or legal framework, his officers could be breaking EU law by in effect “turning a blind eye”.
Europa Sur reported that the officer in question has on several occasions sought written clarification from superiors in Madrid but without success, receiving only verbal orders.
Against that backdrop, he ordered his officers to tighten controls on two recent occasions, causing concern here and, in one instance, triggering reciprocal measures by Gibraltarian immigration staff who stopped recognising EU ID cards as valid travel documents.
The matter is now with the court in La Linea, where a Spanish judge must decide whether to proceed to assess the complaint.
The situation highlights the urgency to ongoing negotiations for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar that aims to establish a new framework for cross-border relations with border fluidity at its core.
After the latest incident at the border last Friday, the Gibraltar Government said the order to tighten controls – which was short-lived on that occasion and was reversed after an hour – countermanded transitional provisions agreed between the governments of Spain, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Gibraltar.
That derogation enables both Spain and Gibraltar not to require individuals moving between Gibraltar and the Schengen area to show their passports if they are remaining in Gibraltar or Spain.
The Gibraltar Government said decisions of the type taken unilaterally by the Spanish officer “cause difficulties for ordinary people” wishing to cross the border.