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Queues to cross the British overseas territory’s frontier took more than 90 minutes on Friday. And a live estimate of the crossing by the Royal Gibraltar Police warned motorists should expect it to take 55 minutes to cross this morning.
All this has enraged many people who live and work on The Rock and frequently cross into mainland Spain or vice versa.
Tarik El-Yabani shared the views of many Brits when he claimed Spain was causing the delays for political reasons.
The former Royal Gibraltar Regiment soldier shared an image of the queues and raged: “The #Gibraltar-Spain border at 10:35 AM, Friday 11th June.
“The Spanish government continues to use the border as a pressure point, causing delays of over an hour to cross on a bank holiday weekend.
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However, it still claims sovereignty and says that the treaty in invalid.
The UK has long disputed this and said as long as the Rock’s inhabitants want to remain part of the country’s overseas territories they can.
Brexit reignited this ongoing stalemate and the Spanish were accused of exploiting the Withdrawal Agreement to try and recapture it.
Spain has always denied this, but political commentators have said it is a common theme for Spanish governments to periodically inflame tensions when it suits them.
The country’s far-right Vox party provoked outrage when they called on the Spanish government to “liberate” Gibraltar by invading it.
Its Secretary General Javier Ortega Smith said: “For those of us who defend national sovereignty, territorial unity and the free development of Campo de Gibraltar, it is unacceptable to continue yielding to blackmail and the invasion of Gibraltar.
“We must tell them very clearly that this is over, that we are not going to allow it anymore, and that we are going to permanently vindicate our sovereignty and control of our waters.”
In 2020, reports revealed how Spain tried to lobby US Congressmen into supporting a plan to strip Britain of sole sovereignty over Gibraltar.
The Daily Telegraph spoke to seven former members of the House of Representatives who said the Spanish Embassy in Washington DC pushed back after they signed a resolution backing Gibraltar’s British status or visited the territory.
Some congressmen said while diplomats should be allowed to argue their case the attitude of Spanish officials was perceived at times as “belligerent”, “forceful”, “aggressive” and “over the line”.
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