After years of post-Brexit wrangling and negotiation, there’s finally a solution in sight to a border problem that’s been a thorn in both sides: the line between British-ruled Gibraltar and Spain.
Starting July 15, the border between Gibraltar and Spain will become an internal border of the Schengen zone, and UK visitors will have to join other third-party nationals to enter, unless they are arriving from Spain.
Leaving aside all past questions over continued British sovereignty, the immediate effect is to remove all physical barriers on persons and goods between Spain and Gibraltar, a boon especially to the many locals who work on one side and live on the other.
For UK citizens, it will become a bit more complicated; they will now have to have a passport with at least three extra months validity after departure, and will be subject to EU rules limiting them to a total of 90 days out of 180 in the Schengen zone, rather than a separate 90 day permission for Gibraltar.
Image: YMBlanter/Wikimedia Commons
