John Culatto
LONG land frontier delays of two-wheeled vehicles that caused commuter anger this week were caused by Spanish border guards, the Government of Gibraltar said.
Spanish newspaper Europa Sur had reported the Borders and Coastguard Agency were to blame for the early morning tailbacks.
But Rock’s government’s instead said that it was the Spanish authorities that had been checking ‘each one of the motorcycles, bicycles and electric scooters’ commuting into Gibraltar on Monday morning.
These document checks, the government said, led to the long delays for workers trying to get into Gibraltar.
The extension of another lane than the one normally used by two-wheeled riders then led to a ‘flood’ of two-wheeled riders that was ‘very difficult to control’ on the Gibraltar side.
Now, local authorities have allowed all of the lane be open not just to cars but also to motorbikes, bicycles and scooters until 8am every morning.
This move, the government assured, will create an easier flow of two-wheeled traffic in the mornings.
At the same time, it noted the ‘long queues on the two-wheel lane to leave Gibraltar’ during the week, even when there were few cars exiting the Rock.
These latest frontier problems come as the UK and the EU try to thrash out an EU treaty that could remove the frontier altogether.
Gibraltar will either become part of the Schengen zone or have a hard EU frontier on its doorstep.
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