Today is the 40th anniversary of the “full” opening of the land frontier by Spain in 1985, following its closure by the dictator General Franco in 1969. 

A statement continued: “The opening of the gates symbolised the failure of Franco’s policy of coercion and restrictions which had been designed to bring Gibraltar to its knees. 

“This policy had commenced after the establishment of a Legislative Council in Gibraltar in 1950 and was extended further still after the Royal Visit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1954. It intensified throughout the 1960s, when it became increasingly difficult to cross the border, and was accompanied by air and maritime restrictions as well. 

“On 8 June 1969, Franco’s Spain closed the frontier gates and isolated Gibraltar completely from the neighbouring territory. 

“When Franco died in November 1975, there was a sense of expectation that the death of the dictator might somehow see this coercive attitude buried with him, but it was not to be and the gates remained firmly shut. 

“However, in July 1977 Spain formally applied to join the European Economic Community (EEC) as it was then. This created a new European dimension to the border issue because a closed frontier between two parts of the EEC was inconceivable. The Lisbon Agreement in 1980 and the Brussels Agreement of 1984 both framed the opening of the border in the context of concessions made by the United Kingdom to Spain in exchange. This came to be seen after the event as a serious error of judgement given that the border had to open anyway. 

“Therefore, at the same time as the border opened, talks started in Geneva on the sovereignty of Gibraltar, and Spain tabled what became known as the Moran proposals, which sought to achieve Spanish sovereignty after a period of joint control. This was the first time ever that sovereignty proposals tabled by Spain were not immediately rejected by the United Kingdom. 

“It is important to recall that quite apart from this question, the opening of the border also left a bitter taste in the mouth for many people. It opened for pedestrians in 1982 and for vehicular traffic in 1985, not because a democracy was righting the wrongs of a dictatorship, but because there was no choice in the light of EEC entry and only after concessions were obtained in exchange.”

The Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, said: “The opening of the border in 1985 reflected the failure of Franco’s policy towards Gibraltar based on border restrictions leading to full frontier closure. He had predicted that Gibraltar would “fall like a ripe fruit” and was proved wrong by different generations of Gibraltarians who remain just as assertive in their resolve to defend their country, their sovereignty and their self-determination as they had been in 1969. The opening was nonetheless a significant moment in the history of Gibraltar because it provided Spain with an opportunity to reset the relationship based on learning from the mistakes of the past. Sadly, the years which came afterwards showed that those lessons of history had not been learnt.” 

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: "There is no small irony that generations on we are now negotiating with PSOE in power in Madrid for real fluidity to come to the frontier between Gibraltar and Spain after the UK has left the EU. With good faith, goodwill and wanting to put people first, we can see more progress in coming weeks than in forty years. We are ready to take forward-looking steps without conceding on our fundamentals or asking anyone else to do so."