Brussels has taken an unusually swift step to preserve the daily flow of people and goods between Spain and Gibraltar. On 18 February 2026 the European Commission approved the provisional application of the long-negotiated EU–UK treaty on Gibraltar, bypassing the often-lengthy ratification process in the European Parliament and national capitals. The move is explicitly timed to beat the 10 April launch of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), which will introduce mandatory fingerprint and facial-image scans for all third-country travellers at the bloc’s external borders.
Under the agreement, the land frontier at La Línea de la Concepción will be dismantled and Gibraltar will be treated, for Schengen purposes, as though it were part of Spain. Spanish Policía Nacional officers—rather than local Gibraltar officials—will carry out Schengen entry checks at the Rock’s port and airport. British passport holders arriving directly in Gibraltar will therefore undergo EU biometric controls before setting foot on Spanish soil, while 15,000 cross-border workers who commute each day will continue to cross with only an ID card. A new 15 percent transaction tax on goods sold in Gibraltar is designed to offset revenue lost from the disappearance of the customs line.
For business-travel managers the provisional deal removes the worst-case scenario of overnight gridlock at the border once EES goes live. Without it, every non-EU national—including UK citizens and many Gibraltarians—would have been required to queue for fingerprints and face scans at a makeshift facility in La Línea, a process the Commission estimated could take two to four minutes per traveller. With more than 30 percent of Gibraltar’s workforce living in Andalucía, the economic stakes were high: the Confederación de Empresarios de Cádiz warned that even a one-hour average delay would wipe €25 million a month from regional GDP.
![EU fast-tracks Gibraltar treaty to keep Spain-UK border fluid before new biometric checks]()
If your organisation still needs help navigating Spain’s evolving entry rules—whether for Schengen visas, residence permits or upcoming ETIAS/EES requirements—VisaHQ offers an all-in-one solution. Their Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) provides real-time guidance and application support, allowing mobility teams and individual travellers to stay compliant without drowning in paperwork.
The treaty also provides long-term certainty for companies that locate staff on the Rock while servicing clients in Spain. Once ratified permanently, Gibraltar-based professionals will enjoy Schengen-wide mobility for business trips of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, aligning their rights with other non-EU residents of Spain who hold biometric residence cards. Employers should nevertheless prepare staff for the practicalities of EES enrolment: the first crossing after 10 April will still require full biometric capture, even under the treaty, although repeat crossings will be faster.
Political hurdles remain. In London, opposition MPs have demanded publication of the treaty text, arguing that the presence of Spanish police in Gibraltar raises sovereignty concerns. Any delay in Westminster could still jeopardise the timeline if the UK fails to complete its own provisional approval before EES starts. For now, however, mobility planners can assume that the Gibraltar border—one of Europe’s most heavily trafficked commercial crossings—will stay friction-free this spring.
Under the agreement, the land frontier at La Línea de la Concepción will be dismantled and Gibraltar will be treated, for Schengen purposes, as though it were part of Spain. Spanish Policía Nacional officers—rather than local Gibraltar officials—will carry out Schengen entry checks at the Rock’s port and airport. British passport holders arriving directly in Gibraltar will therefore undergo EU biometric controls before setting foot on Spanish soil, while 15,000 cross-border workers who commute each day will continue to cross with only an ID card. A new 15 percent transaction tax on goods sold in Gibraltar is designed to offset revenue lost from the disappearance of the customs line.
For business-travel managers the provisional deal removes the worst-case scenario of overnight gridlock at the border once EES goes live. Without it, every non-EU national—including UK citizens and many Gibraltarians—would have been required to queue for fingerprints and face scans at a makeshift facility in La Línea, a process the Commission estimated could take two to four minutes per traveller. With more than 30 percent of Gibraltar’s workforce living in Andalucía, the economic stakes were high: the Confederación de Empresarios de Cádiz warned that even a one-hour average delay would wipe €25 million a month from regional GDP.
If your organisation still needs help navigating Spain’s evolving entry rules—whether for Schengen visas, residence permits or upcoming ETIAS/EES requirements—VisaHQ offers an all-in-one solution. Their Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) provides real-time guidance and application support, allowing mobility teams and individual travellers to stay compliant without drowning in paperwork.
The treaty also provides long-term certainty for companies that locate staff on the Rock while servicing clients in Spain. Once ratified permanently, Gibraltar-based professionals will enjoy Schengen-wide mobility for business trips of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, aligning their rights with other non-EU residents of Spain who hold biometric residence cards. Employers should nevertheless prepare staff for the practicalities of EES enrolment: the first crossing after 10 April will still require full biometric capture, even under the treaty, although repeat crossings will be faster.
Political hurdles remain. In London, opposition MPs have demanded publication of the treaty text, arguing that the presence of Spanish police in Gibraltar raises sovereignty concerns. Any delay in Westminster could still jeopardise the timeline if the UK fails to complete its own provisional approval before EES starts. For now, however, mobility planners can assume that the Gibraltar border—one of Europe’s most heavily trafficked commercial crossings—will stay friction-free this spring.
