Spain and Britain will demolish the Gibraltar frontier that separates the Rock from Andalucia (La Linea) by January 2026, it has emerged – provided all parties stick to the roadmap agreed in Brussels this summer.
On June 11, negotiators reached a deal on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU. The final treaty text is now being drafted, with the hope that it will be signed off by December.
Madrid and London expect Brussels to have the document ready by October.
El Pais reported the timeline on Monday, confirming the outlook shared by Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares shortly after the June deal.
At the time, Albares declared the frontier ‘a thing of the past’ and said the agreement should be written ‘in black and white’ by the autumn.
Before the treaty is signed, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is expected to visit Downing Street for a face-to-face with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to iron out final details.
In the meantime, Spain plans to activate new Schengen-style checks at the Gibraltar frontier this autumn.
The process will begin gradually from Sunday, October 12, aligning with the EU’s official rollout of the Entry/Exit System (EES) across external borders.
Until the treaty is finalised, Spanish authorities will manage the system at the current frontier. Once the agreement is in force, control will shift.
Passport checks and entry procedures will move to Gibraltar’s port and airport, jointly managed by Spain’s Policia Nacional and Gibraltarian authorities. This would mark the end of physical border controls at the land crossing.
La Linea demands clarity
Juan Franco, mayor of La Linea de la Concepcion, welcomed news of the frontier’s potential demolition but warned that his council is still in the dark.
‘This is obviously positive,’ Franco said, ‘but apart from the meetings held in June, we haven’t been told anything else. This agreement directly affects us, and we need proper information.’
Franco stressed that the land where current border facilities sit falls within La Linea’s jurisdiction, and the council wants a say in what happens next.
La Linea City Council is currently working on two fronts: a Strategic Memorandum for Sustainable Cross-Border Integration, and a public consultation designed to gather local input. The aim is to shape how the end of the physical border could impact the local economy and infrastructure.
Franco expects to send the final documentation to Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs by early September.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
