How Gibraltar got the best of both worlds

This blazing hot summer has inevitably drawn comparisons with the heatwave of 1976, a year when temperatures soared to a then unheard-of 35°C. A year of Fabs and Zooms and Orange Maid ice lollies (and the Troubles, the Yorkshire Ripper and rolling industrial disputes).

So there’s a slight irony that next week sees a progressive step forward for residents of the British Overseas Territory where it’s forever 1976 – Gibraltar, the sun-kissed land of red telephone boxes, old-fashioned pubs, traditional fish and chip shops and various other things which disappeared from the UK proper with classic analogue TV signals and the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Next week, a new deal will come into force on the Rock which grants Britons living in Gibraltar unrestricted European travel and, to quote its chief minister at the time it was finalised last year, will reverse the “harmful consequences of Brexit”.

Suggested Reading

The unravelling of Nigel Farage

James Ball

Long queues for the double police checkpoints, where travellers have previously had to present passports to officials from both Spain and Gibraltar, will disappear as the land border will in effect vanish. It means Gibraltar will be the only place where resident British citizens will be able to travel anywhere in the Schengen area without being subject to the post-Brexit rule restricting stays in the EU to only 90 days in every 180. Are we feeling jealous?

Gibraltar was unique in being the only British Overseas Territory within the EU, and hence was the only such territory with the right to vote in the Brexit referendum (it also voted for MEPs to the European Parliament, while not having representation at Westminster). Perhaps with direct knowledge of precisely the impact of wrenching ourselves from the block, 95.9% of votes cast were for Remain (the 823 who did vote for it have wisely kept their counsel ever since).

Ever since the vote, Gibraltar has remained in political limbo. The day after the result, Spain’s then-acting foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, renewed calls for joint Spanish-British control. Fintech companies like Payoneer moved their offices from Gibraltar to Ireland. In one of the maddest moments of a particularly hare-brained decade, in 2017 former Conservative leader Michael Howard went on TV to say that the UK would be willing to go to war with Spain over it.

In 2020, though, there was an outbreak of adult conduct and Spain and the UK reached an agreement in principle under which Gibraltar would join the Schengen Area. And now things have got real – to the extent that the chair of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses fears the new world in which the territory now resides means it might finally get a Zara, posing a threat to its traditional stores. “Gibraltar has been insulated from many of the challenges which high streets in the UK face,” fretted Owen Smith (not, presumably, the long-forgotten Labour leadership challenger) to the i.

Suggested Reading

No, the UK is not turning into Italy

Jessica Lionnel

What Gibraltar is getting is, in effect, what we all had before the snake oil salesmen played their greatest trick: being British citizens while retaining all the benefits of EU membership, including freedom of movement between the 27 member states without restriction or queues. Indeed, the actual logistics of travel may be about to become easier – while presently its airport only flies to Britain, a number of European airlines have indicated an interest in launching services.

So why shouldn’t we all just move to Gibraltar? Because they’re already alert to that. After the announcement of the deal in June, scores of Britons quickly applied to move to Gibraltar, to the extent that in October its government temporarily paused fresh residency applications from the UK in a move which caught much of the business community off guard. It’s not yet clear when the restrictions will be lifted, although it’s unlikely ever to be a free-for-all.

“We will have the benefits of Europe, a low-tax economy and British traditions,” says Mike Nicholls, CEO of Chesterton’s in Gibraltar. He may be trying to flog houses, but he’s right. Gibraltar may have been the butt of jokes about its sepia-tinted nature as recently as – well, as recently as at the start of this piece – but it’s effectively got back in the EU while the rest of us watch on. Something to consider as we suck on our Orange Maids this sweltering summer.