Gibraltar border war erupts after draconian Spanish officials start stamping passports in tit-for-tat row
Gibraltar, as viewed from Spain
REUTERS
Draconian Spanish officials have started a diplomatic war between Spain and Gibraltar after checking and stamping Gibraltarian passports at the border.
Since Brexit, Spain has allowed freedom of movement between itself and the Rock for workers and tourists alike to avoid disruption until a deal is struck with the UK.
Though said deal is still yet to be reached, Spain's border guards made the inflammatory move to start stamping the documents as would-be travellers tried to enter border town La Linea.
Huge queues at the checkpoint ensued at 7am as cross-border workers tried to get to their jobs - not least because Gibraltarian officials hit back and demanded that Spanish EU citizens undergo similar stampings.
Earlier today, Gibraltarian outlet GBC News reported that the Rock's Government was trying to work out whether the move came from a rogue officer or had filtered down from Spanish high command.
GBC also quoted Gibraltarians who had crossed into Spain as saying they were told by Spanish officers that "the law changed at midnight".
The Government later confirmed that border officials had alerted it to Spain's move in the dead of night - and noted that it had happened "without any prior warning whatsoever".
But it cooled the suggestion that Spanish institutions were involved - saying neither Spanish home nor foreign ministers were aware of the flare-up.
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Just before 11am, Gibraltar confirmed both it and Spain had cooled off their tit-for-tat stamping exchange
GETTYThe queues - started by Spanish guards - then left the country "unable to cope" with the volume of travellers, forcing them to revert to the interim UK-Spain rules, the Gibraltarian Government said.
Gibraltar soon followed suit - but Spain was at it again just hours later, despite having been explicitly instructed not to do so.
Spanish officials had apparently wanted their instructions in written form - as the initial instruction to renege on the border rules had been written down too.
Finally, just before 11am, Gibraltar confirmed both it and Spain had cooled off their tit-for-tat stamping exchange.
But the Rock still warned that Spain is planning to require stamps at its border on November 10 - and has pledged to respond in kind to whatever Spain's officials do next.
Picardo has warned Gibraltarians and Spaniards alike to start carrying their passports
PAGibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo called the Spanish attitude to the border measures "sporadic" as he laid into Spain's police officers.
In light of today's debacle, Picardo also warned Gibraltarians and Spaniards alike to start carrying their passports, lest Spain impose the restrictions on a whim once again.
He has called on Spain to accept the UK's "reasonable, balanced and imaginative" proposals for a post-Brexit deal on Gibraltar, adding the "ball is in Spain's court".
Picardo's statement finished with a plea for peace - it read: "I am on the side of ordinary Gibraltarians, working people from Gibraltar and cross-frontier workers. I want this to work for all of us.
"I sincerely hope that incidents like this are the storm before the calm and that we can resolve matters at the negotiating table in a way that works for all of us and can be implemented with public support".