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After five long years of uncertainty, the European Union, Spain and the United Kingdom have finally hammered out an agreement on Gibraltar's status. This is pretty huge news for anyone who travels to the Rock regularly, whether for work or tourism.

 

Ever since Brexit kicked in, Gibraltar's situation has been a bit messy. The British territory at the southern tip of Spain was left out of the main agreements between Brussels and London, leaving everyone wondering what would happen to border controls and travel arrangements.

 

The most significant change is that the hard border between Gibraltar and the Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción is being removed. Spain will now take over passport control at Gibraltar's port and airport, which is quite a shift from how things have worked up until now.

 

Here's what this means if you're planning to visit Gibraltar. The physical barriers, checkpoints and all those controls that existed at the land border are being eliminated. No more queuing up at the border crossing that more than 15,000 people and tourists use every day. That's going to make life a lot easier for everyone.

 

Instead of land border controls, there will be dual border controls at Gibraltar's airport and port. Spanish National Police will handle the Schengen controls, while British agents will continue doing their own thing to manage immigration and internal security on the Rock.

 

So you'll still have to go through both Spanish and British controls, just in a different location.

 

Interestingly, the European agency Frontex has been left out of this arrangement, even though they were originally considered for a role in the controls.

 

As for what documents you'll need, things are staying pretty much the same for most people. European citizens can still enter with their ID or passport, just like before, but without having to deal with those land border controls. If you're flying or arriving by sea, you'll go through Schengen border control, which will be managed by Spain.

 

British citizens will need to present a passport and will be subject to the usual Schengen area stay limits. Spanish officials will be keeping an eye on this at the port and airport.

 

For everyone else from outside Europe, the standard requirements for entering the Schengen area still apply.

 

The catch is that while the agreement has been reached, it's not actually in force yet. There's still some legal paperwork that needs to be formalised and ratified by both sides. Until that happens, everything stays as it is now with the current transitional arrangements.

 

It's taken five years to get to this point, but it looks like Gibraltar travel is about to get a lot smoother for everyone involved.

 

Image: Nathan Harig via Wikimedia Commons