Spain's Foreign Secretary to meet Chief Minister Picardo today to discuss preparations for implementing Gibraltar agreement

They had originally hoped to have everything ready before 10 April, when the new European Entry/Exit System (EES) began at European borders.

The core element of the agreement is the removal of the physical border (the 'Verja'). Controls will instead be carried out by the Spanish National Police at the Rock's airport and port to ensure compliance with Schengen Area rules.

Furthermore, the deal includes the shared use of the airport, a customs union between the Rock and the EU, and the introduction of an indirect tax by Gibraltar, similar to VAT, intended to eliminate fiscal distortions.

First bilateral meeting

While both Albares and Picardo have participated throughout the negotiation process for the post-Brexit relationship between Gibraltar and the EU, this is the first time the two have held a bilateral meeting.

The last direct contact between a Foreign Minister and the Chief Minister of the Rock took place on 23 July 2020, though it did not occur at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Madrid.

The then-minister, Arancha González Laya, spoke with Picardo in Algeciras during a visit to the Campo de Gibraltar to analyse the impact of the Brexit-related memoranda signed with the United Kingdom.

Previously, fellow Socialist minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos became the first head of Spanish diplomacy to visit Gibraltar since the British occupation of the Rock in 1704. Moratinos crossed the border on 21 July 2009 to meet with the then-Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Peter Caruana, and British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband.

That meeting was the third at ministerial level within the framework of the 'Trilateral Forum for Dialogue' created in 2004 by the governments of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Gibraltar. Its goal was to advance local cooperation while setting aside the sovereignty dispute.

Similarly, the current agreement reached between the UK and the EU - pending ratification by the British Parliament, the Council, and the European Parliament - excludes all matters relating to the ongoing sovereignty dispute between the two countries.