Spain and UK plan to remove Gibraltar border crossing in January 2026

The Gibraltar border crossing is now due to be removed at the start of 2026, according to a new report in leading Spanish daily El País.

This will put an end to decades of frequent hold-ups at La Verja (The Fence), the border post which separates Gibraltar and the southern Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción.

This follows the ratification of the new Gibraltar Treaty between Brussels, Madrid, London and Gibraltar last June, and which is expected to be finalised in October.

If all goes to plan, this will finally mean no border controls on people and goods, creating a customs union with the European Union. It is also set to align Gibraltar's tax system with EU standards.

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There will be new taxes on goods including tobacco, and the port and airport will be under joint control by the Spanish and Gibraltarian police.

The mayor of La Línea, Juan Franco, welcomed the news in a statement to Spanish radio station SER, but also said that he wanted more information about how the new arrangement would work in practice and how it would affect his municipality.

"We welcome the fact that the border has an end date, but we need specific details to plan the impact on La Línea," he said.

Next week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is due to visit London to meet with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and discuss the final details of the treaty.

This follows years of negotiations to settle Gibraltar's post-Brexit status, which shares a land border with Spain and, by extension, the EU.

Back in June 2025, EU announced that it had come to an agreement with the UK, Spain and Gibraltar, but at the time it wasn’t clear exactly what had been decided and what would happen at the border.

The aim of removing the physical border is to facilitate the movement of some 15,000 people who travel daily between Gibraltar and Spain. Many Andalusians in fact work in Gibraltar and Gibraltarians often have business and family ties to the area across the border in Spain.

The agreement is set to create ‘dual’ EuroStar-style border controls carried out by both Gibraltarian and Spanish officers at the port and airport, while most controls at the border crossing between Gibraltar and La Línea will be removed.

Currently, time spent in Gibraltar does not count towards the 90 days in any 180 days limit that British travellers are subject to, but this may change with the EuroStar-style passport checks and the new Entry/Exit System (EES) when it comes into force.

The elimination of the border next year is set to mark a new era in the relationship between 'The Rock' and the rest of Spain, particularly the neighbouring town of La Línea.