Spain and Gibraltar Remove Border Checks Under New UK-EU Treaty

Border checks between Spain and Gibraltar, the small British territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula whose sovereignty Madrid has long contested, ended this week under a new United Kingdom-European Union treaty. People and vehicles crossed from Spain without inspection for the first time, and the old chain-link fence between the two sides was taken down.

The arrangement resolves one of the last open questions from Britain's 2020 exit from the European Union. Roughly 15,000 workers cross the frontier daily, and the checks that followed Brexit had caused long delays and recurring friction between London and Madrid. Under the treaty, Gibraltar effectively joins the passport-free travel zone that covers most of continental Europe, with controls handled jointly rather than at the fence line.

Both governments described the deal as pragmatic rather than a concession on the underlying sovereignty dispute, which remains unresolved. Spain continues to claim the territory, ceded to Britain in 1713, while Gibraltar's residents have repeatedly voted to remain British. What changed is the practical experience of the border, not its legal status.