For the first time ever, Spain has hosted a face-to-face meeting with Gibraltar’s leader on its own soil -and it ended with a date for tearing down the border.
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares met Fabian Picardo in Madrid on Wednesday in a meeting that breaks with years of diplomatic caution.
The talks took place at the Foreign Ministry’s headquarters and focused on how to roll out the post-Brexit agreement between the EU and the UK covering Gibraltar.
But the key moment came after the meeting, as Gibraltar’s government confirmed that the process of dismantling the border fence, aka the ‘Verja’, will begin before July 15.
A first in Spain-Gibraltar relations
Spain has long avoided formal bilateral meetings like this on its own territory due to its claim over Gibraltar.
Contacts did happen in the past, but they were carefully framed as informal or part of wider, multilateral talks.
That line has now shifted. This meeting was official, scheduled, and public, and held at the heart of Spanish diplomacy.
Albares was joined by senior EU official Carlos Moreno Blanco, while Picardo attended with members of his government, including business minister Gemma Arias-Vasquez.
A symbolic change
Despite hosting the meeting, Spain did not make the big announcement. Instead, Picardo’s team released the timeline.
It states that border barriers will start coming down before mid-July, when the EU–UK agreement begins to apply provisionally.
Spain has kept its response cautious, describing the meeting as part of ongoing preparations for implementing the deal.
Albares is due to visit the Campo de Gibraltar next, where he will meet local leaders and inspect the border area.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
