Aug 04 - Cross-Frontier Group Urges Spanish Government To Find Solution To Border Chaos

Written by YGTV Team on 04 August 2015.

The Cross-Frontier Group has said that, instead of solving the problems of cross border workers, tourists and others that cross the border, the recently installed document control system, also referred to as the “intelligent border”, has had “the complete opposite effect.”

The group says it would like to think that a series of teething problems are the cause of this chaos and not the “bad intentions of the Spanish Government.”

A statement issued this afternoon continued:

“The lack of understanding of the system, the shortage of Police numbers, and the trialling of the new system at a time of the year when the numbers of people crossing the border are at their highest (July and Fair week in la Linea) and the fact that no effort has been made to separate out those with passports and ID cards without microchips from those with microchips have, over the last few days, been the cause of the dramatic scenes at the border with large pedestrian queues of cross border workers, tourists, the elderly, children etc. all having to endure the high seasonal temperatures as well as the recent heat wave.   

“If one adds to this the long queues of trucks caused by the inefficient work practices of the commercial side of the Spanish Customs, one can only describe the situation as being catastrophic for the interests of citizens in Gibraltar and the Campo region who have, once again, found themselves being seriously affected by the situation.

“We urge the Spanish Government to find an immediate solution to the situation that not only affects the economic interests and the rights of citizens, but also for humanitarian and health reasons as we are concerned that not to do so could lead to a regrettable incident.

“We would like to make it known that we will alert the EU authorities insisting that they act to defend the rights of European citizens.”