The GSD says Gibraltar should "seek an exemption" from the new rules for British citizens arriving in UK.

A statement from the GSD follows below:

Gibraltar should seek an exemption from the new UK rules that will impose a 14-day quarantine to British citizens arriving in UK. Passengers from the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Ireland are expected to be exempt. 

This will presently affect any person leaving Gibraltar and the hundreds of retuning Gibraltar students. It will increase the locked status of Gibraltar and lessen any prospect of business travel or UK tourism to Gibraltar. 

There has also been reports of the EU seeking to take reciprocal measures if EU nationals are not exempt. All those measures together with the state of present travel across the border to Spain would lead to more general isolation of Gibraltar than is necessary or justified. 

The Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi, who has been in contact with the Chief Minister on these issues said: “these are issues that require discussion at an intergovernmental level to ensure that travel can happen without imposition of further or unnecessary restrictions given that, at present, there are very few cases of COVID in Gibraltar. We should seek an exemption for Gibraltar from this UK quarantine restriction.”