What are the infrastructural changes required at the land border and airport to support the 2026 UK/EU Treaty arrangements for Gibraltar?
Short answer
The border fence will be removed where no longer needed. Road designs will change to remove bottleneck layouts. The airport terminal interior will be modified for new passenger lane segregation. A Second Line Checks Area straddling the political border will be built. New immigration booths, e-gates and Schengen IT systems including EES will be installed. Future changes will accommodate flights to Schengen destinations.
Detailed answer
The political border between Gibraltar and Spain will remain just like the political borders between the Schengen States continue to exist. What will be removed is the part of the border fence that would no longer serve any purpose given the absence of immigration controls between Gibraltar and Spain. Not immediately but, in time, it is likely that road designs will change to do away with the current designs which create the bottleneck required for persons to undergo controls. It will, however, be necessary to provide systems to be able to reimplement controls in cases of emergency, suspension of Schengen arrangements and other relevant circumstances. There will be changes too to the interior of the airport terminal to make adjustments catering for new passenger lane segregation for both border and customs entry and exit controls. Notably, these changes will see the construction of a Second Line Checks Area - a space which will straddle the political border equidistantly in which the Spanish and Gibraltar authorities will be able to move freely as they fulfil the functions agreed under the treaty arrangements. There will also be new immigration booths which will connect to this area, new e-gates and Schengen IT systems, like the EES, will be installed for those who are required to make use of them. Since different immigration rules apply to persons having the right of free movement under EU law and Gibraltarians and persons legally resident in Gibraltar, on the one hand, as compared to third-country nationals, on the other hand, these passenger flows will be split on arrival for fluidity and efficiency. In time, new infrastructural changes will be made to cater for the operation of flights to Schengen destinations - this being another possibility which has been unlocked under the treaty.