Gibraltar has unveiled the first plans for its new high-tech border with Spain.
It comes as the physical frontier fence is set to disappear this month as part of the UK-EU post-Brexit agreement.
The deal, years in the making, is expected to be signed on July 13 and implemented two days later.
Ahead of the signing, the Gibraltar Government has released images showing what the new border area will look like in the future and how it will operate.
As work continues to dismantle the existing border fence, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has sought to reassure residents that the new system will maintain robust security while allowing the free movement envisaged under the agreement.
According to Picardo, the current fence and barbed wire will disappear on July 15, but will be replaced by a high-security perimeter fence similar to those used to protect British Ministry of Defence sites.
The new fencing will secure key strategic infrastructure, including Gibraltar Airport’s runway, the fuel depot, the airport tunnel and Customs facilities.
The new border will also feature an extensive surveillance network, including facial recognition cameras, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, upgraded lighting and increased patrols by the Royal Gibraltar Police, HM Customs and the Gibraltar Borders and Coastguard Agency (BCA).
Picardo said the facial recognition technology will automatically check whether individuals are wanted by Interpol or Gibraltar police, while number plate recognition cameras will identify vehicles flagged on law enforcement databases.
One section will remain unfenced: the area known as the loop, between the airport runway and the race circuit.
Instead of physical barriers, this stretch will be monitored through additional police and customs officers, surveillance cameras and off-road patrol vehicles to ensure only authorised people enter Gibraltar.
The computer-generated images released by the Gibraltar Government also show a redesigned border area featuring a new tourist information office beside the former frontier crossing and a large canopy covering part of the entrance.
Another feature will be 200 metres of digital display screens inside the access tunnel, which will be used to show advertisements for Gibraltar businesses and welcome messages for visitors.
Picardo also revealed he had met again with La Linea mayor Juan Franco to coordinate preparations ahead of the changes.
He added that if exceptional circumstances ever required the Schengen entry arrangements to be suspended, authorities would only need to close a 178-metre section of the new border infrastructure, which he said could be done ‘very quickly’.
The Chief Minister said the political timetable for the agreement is now ‘almost aligned’, suggesting confirmation of the final signing and implementation dates is expected shortly.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
