What will Gibraltar look like post-Brexit? Newsnight visits British Overseas Territory left in limbo

much Echoes of the past are everywhere in Gibraltar its history is worn with pride the ceremony of the keys a regular ritual a reminder of military traditions it is an intensely patriotic Place profoundly aware of its identity we do have as you see the Bobbies dress as in the UK our red pillar boxes we are irreversibly British our nature and our nurture is British and yet anybody who arrives at Gibraltar will somehow think oh my goodness this isn't Little Britain is it it is also a complex identity a diverse Society at a Crossroads after centuries of uneasy relations with its nearest European neighbor because of brexit its strategic position at the Gateway of the Mediterranean means it has been fiercely contested ever since including a blockade imposed by Spanish dictator General Franco between 1969 and 1982. it's claimed that in the 18th century the monkeys that live here foiled and attacked by the Spanish by making so much noise it woke up the British below ever since then the legend has gone that as long as the monkeys remain on the Rock the British will remain in Gibraltar and Gibraltar will remain British the macaques are part of gibraltarian identity as is the long-standing physical division with their Northern neighbor that border tells jubilitarians in no uncertain terms that Gibraltar is not Spanish and the Border also avoids any slippage into Spain an identity is generated on the presence of a border and on the knowledge that Gibraltar will remain British what is for gibraltarians the most important thing that comes out of this or could come out of these negotiations that there's no erosion of British sovereignty and that this erosion is not reflected in in how the border is managed that trumps economic concerns clearly it does at some level because despite the fact that Gibraltar voted to remain in Europe overwhelmingly it it leaves Europe with Britain knowing full well that this is damaging for Gibraltar and so despite sharing a land border with an EU State and voting overwhelmingly in favor of remain 96 on a huge turnout the gibraltarian government is committed to following the UK and leaving the EU temper tantrums don't get you anywhere in politics understanding that people need to move on in democracy and not dwell on a result from 2016 every day and delivering a reality day-to-day which is better than what brexit could have been for Gibraltar and working to improve it even further is what the people of Gibraltar pay me to do they don't pay me to go to London and throw my toys out of the pram and in that way totally alienate the British government forever but you must be quite tempted to at points it must be difficult I'm 50. I left my pram behind with its toys about 48 years ago the pace of life here in Gibraltar is gentle relaxed and patience has been needed with negotiations still underway nearly seven years after the brexit referendum that is the Spanish Town of La Linea and every day thousands of people cross in both directions to shop to work to see their families and how open how free-flowing that border is is absolutely at the heart of these negotiations it's also crucial for businesses like zirconian speed they've sold wine on the rock for nearly 200 years and by their own admission want the best of both worlds we need to to come to an agreement somewhere in the middle in terms of how the the borders are going to operate if not a status quo of what it was before but we need an agile border a workable board in practice where we can get the goods in where there's an element of control so anything under the sun just doesn't flood in is there any unanimity on what kind of deal people want um the finance industry and the gaming companies will depend on workers and all that they need a free flow in Frontier they're not that much concerned on the commercial side of the Border as we are the only thing every business agrees on is that uncertainty is bad for business you cannot plan for what you don't know so um had we known like we've been in in this limbo for for a couple of years and had we known what was in store for us or we have to prepare for we could plan ahead but not knowing we have to plan for all sorts of scenarios the question of the border is just as pressing for their Spanish neighbors La Linea is a town down on its luck the unemployment rate here is high it's thought a third of people are out of work now La Linea and Gibraltar are inextricably linked it's thought that if there is a deal that makes the Border difficult to cross it's here that will suffer most Jose has made the same journey to work for 30 years sometimes the crossing takes minutes sometimes hours for him the best option is clear I outline the the Border disappear you know and I don't I don't care if that this is English or UK or his friends okay we would like to live together and have a pleasant life that's all that's all about politics and we don't care about politics we would like is to live in peace and to you know you see the level of Life the economy of that place and we're not aspired to to be the same but level it a bit because they the figures the economy figures are very very different between one side to the other we have two Fortress and between the forces a line or fortifications okay and it's the line La Linea okay personas she said Horace is foreign it has been three years since Gibraltar left the EU the negotiations about a permanent deal are still rumbling on the talks are officially between the UK and EU but it is the chief minister when the day comes who will have to sell a deal or perhaps No Deal what we cannot bring is a pre-brexit reality as a result of a no negotiated outcome post-brexit so it's going to be difficult it's going to be uncomfortable in some ways but even a negotiated outcome is going to be uncomfortable in some ways are you not being slightly diplomatic and saying it'd be uncomfortable it'd be catastrophic wouldn't it I'm not a diplomat I'm a politician I tell it as it is but let's be very clear there are opportunities in the negotiated outcome as well you know I remember talk about London becoming Singapore on Thames well look Gibraltar is not looking to become Singapore on the Straits of Gibraltar but there are opportunities even you're not in the EU regulated space if you become Singapore on straights so in a way that's a sort of warning to Brussels isn't it I'm not here to threaten I'm not here to warn them not here to cajole I'm here to ensure that I do my best for the people of Gibraltar I think our best efforts should be directed at having a treaty between the United Kingdom and the European Union on Gibraltar I think that's in everybody's interests but if there is no Treaty of course Gibraltar has to explore what opportunities there are for it to do business around the world in a less regulated environment that we might be in if we have a treaty with the EU there is no Cliff Edge in these negotiations Gibraltar and Spain could in theory carry on as they are at the moment but there is a very real deadline looming when La Linea and the rest of Spain elect a new government at some point this year is foreign what you see for the gibraltarians this all comes down to sovereignty issues that Outsiders might seem insignificant like having Spanish border guards at gibraltar's airport are red lines for many on the rock Spain's foreign minister recently said they were very close to a deal but it's not guaranteed it means moments like this are all too precious for Sharon who lives in La Linea and her boyfriend Alex who is with the Royal Navy based just off Gibraltar we can't see each other as much we see now so it's going to be like so difficult to continue with the relation or we could have problems so and for my work is going to be so bad because I could be late always and for the people that live in a linear and have to cross the border or the people that live in Jeep and have to go to Lorena because they live there it's going to be so difficult for people like James and Mackie there are other concerns they struggle with the high cost of living here in Gibraltar they had planned to rent somewhere in La Linea where it's much cheaper that may no longer be an option what a lot of people used to do was get a house in La Linea because you could pay 350 500 euros like some a range of that and you can get yourself even a three-bedroom house yeah and it's it was affordable it was an easy option yeah it was cheap affordable it was close to home whereas if we try to do that now you have to get two stamps a day one to get in and want to get out and there's only so much Pages you have and working from jib and living in Spain is very hard at the moment it's very hard to do that the history of Gibraltar of this place is unavoidable it's everywhere you go it's on the streets it's on the sides on businesses but that sense of history is also in these negotiations it's in the red lines it runs through them that are set out by the government and come in many ways from the people here and these negotiations are crucial because they will determine the future of this place of its people and it's a future that feels to many very uncertain

Channel: BBC News

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Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 25 2023