Britain and EU sign treaty on status of Gibraltar, easing border crossings

Britain and the European Union formally signed on Tuesday a treaty on the status of Gibraltar, following an agreement struck last year aimed at easing border crossings and ending years of political uncertainty over the British overseas territory.

Sudip Kar-Gupta/Reuters

14 July 2026 at 12:35:05

Britain and EU sign treaty on status of Gibraltar, easing border crossings

LA LINEA DE LA CONCEPCION, SPAIN - JULY 6: Vehicles are seen queued during document and passport checks at the border crossing between Spain and Gibraltar, in the southern Spanish border town of La Linea de la Concepcion, Spain on July 6, 2026. Sizable traffic delays have hit the border checkpoint amid ongoing diplomatic transitions and updated entry-exit system implementations ahead of the summer tourism season.

Marcos Moreno / Anadolu

BRUSSELS - Britain and the European Union formally signed on Tuesday a treaty on the status of Gibraltar, following an agreement struck last year aimed at easing border crossings and ending years of political uncertainty over the British overseas territory.

The treaty was signed in Brussels by European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, British Minister of State for Europe Stephen Doughty, Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno and Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo.

Gibraltar residents can cross over to Spain using residence cards without needing to have their passports stamped, while Spanish citizens can cross using a government ID card.

Those arriving at Gibraltar airport will show their passports to both Gibraltar and Spanish border officers, and Britain wants a system similar to French police operating at the London St Pancras railway station for the Eurostar service.

Britain won Gibraltar - a strategically important enclave at the southern tip of Spain - in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht which ended the War of Spanish Succession.

-Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Phil Blenkinsop/Reuters