Sep 20 - Government Notes Spanish Frontier Changes Ahead of EU Commission Visit

Written by YGTV Team on 20 September 2013.

Ahead of the European Commission’s visit to the Frontier, the Gibraltar Government has claimed that the Spanish authorities have cleared and cordoned off the area behind the Spanish customs check point, where cars are usually parked, in order to use that area for the purpose of searching cars travelling from Gibraltar to Spain.

A No 6 statement released this afternoon insists that it has been the Guardia Civil’s practice for many years to stop and check all vehicles in the green channel as they enter Spain ‘instead of taking any vehicles which they want to search or whose occupants they want to question to one side and allowing the rest of the vehicles to continue on their way. This has led to delays of up to seven hours to cross from Gibraltar into Spain over the last few weeks and to delays of about three hours to come into Gibraltar.’

The Government believes that the authorities are preparing themselves for the forthcoming visit by the high-powered delegation from the European Commission, who are set to ‘inspect the nature of the Spanish controls at the border’. The Government claims that it has weeks of evidence showing that Spanish procedures were changed only a matter of days before the delegation’s visit.

‘This crude attempt at the last minute by the Spanish authorities to disguise and conceal the way in which they normally conduct such searches at the border, in a manner that is likely to mislead the European Commission, will be brought to the immediate attention of the European Commission.

Clearly, it would seem that the announcement of the European Commission’s visit is already producing positive effects; even before the Commission inspectors arrive. The searches conducted yesterday are in stark contrast to what the Spanish authorities have always done which is to search cars on either the red or green channels and holding back the rest of the traffic whilst the search is being conducted.

It remains to be seen whether this will continue.’