Jul 18 - Garcia Insists Frontier Queues Are Deliberate
The frontier queue data compiled by the new Frontier Monitoring Programme (FMP) has provided further statistical proof that the queues at the border are being deliberately generated by the Spanish authorities.
The programme monitors the flow rate across the frontier, which is the number of cars that cross from Gibraltar to Spain in one minute. In a normal situation between two parts of the European Union, it is to be expected that the flow rate would be a figure which remains constant irrespective of the volume of cars that cross the border.
However, the data collected for yesterday shows that at 2pm the rate of cars entering Spain was 7.8 per minute. However, by 3pm, this had slowed down to 2.9 cars per minute, which is when the queues started to build up. The rate at which cars crossed into Spain then fell even further to 1.5 cars per minute by 6pm. This added to the long queue along Devil’s Tower Road which coincided with people leaving the beaches on their way home.
By 7pm, the rate of cars crossing into Spain again went up to 12.7 per minute.
Dr. Garcia, Deputy Chief Minister commented on the matter, insisting that the new data shows that the flow rate of cars crossing into Spain is deliberately reduced by the Spanish border authorities. He went on to say that that waiting time to cross into Spain yesterday peaked at just under three hours.
‘This is intolerable in an internal border of the European Union. The brunt of this hardship is borne by EU nationals, thousands of whom are Spanish, who live in Spain and work in Gibraltar. Needless to say, residents of Gibraltar and tourists are also being affected.’
