Walter Finch
SPAIN’S ‘rogue officer’ at the Gibraltar border has issued an ‘internal note’ instructing that passport stamping resume ‘until written instructions are received’, according to reports in Spain.
Chief Inspector David Barrero said that the measure would start ‘once a reasonable amount of time has passed so that any retaliation by Gibraltar towards Spanish workers can be minimised’.
In the February 13 note, seen by Algeciras-based daily Europa Sur, Barrero claims he has been given ‘oral instructions to systematically fail to comply with Articles 6 and 11 of the Schengen Borders Code with Gibraltarian citizens’.
A Government source told GBC, meanwhile, that the Chief Minister has issued his own instructions for reciprocal measures to be implemented ‘within an hour of stricter checks from Spain.’
“The government understands this is not directed from Madrid but a right wing push against the Entente Cordiale that Spain, UK and Gibraltar have agreed, as a goodwill signal to each other, with the EU’s knowledge, for the period of the ongoing negotiations,” GBC wrote.
Barrero, who has risen to notoriety as the ‘rogue officer’ for his war against his own superiors, complains in his note of the ‘persistent non-compliance of the Schengen code without providing a legal basis’.
The border chief, who is currently under investigation for checking passports while drunk and out of uniform, claims these oral orders come ‘under penalty of disciplinary liability for insubordination’.
It was this which forced him to file a denuncia in the La Linea courts against his own superiors, he argued.
“As [the non-compliance] was considered contrary to current regulations, written instructions were requested on several occasions regarding the zeal and consideration with which Articles 6 and 11 were to be applied to Gibraltarian citizens,” he wrote.
“To date, no reply has been received in this regard.”
Article 6 sets the entry conditions for third-country nationals such as Brits and Gibraltarians, which include having valid travel documents, appropriate accommodation and sufficient means of subsistence.
Article 11 requires border guards to stamp the passports of third-country nationals when they enter or exit the Schengen area.
The move to stamp passports could see long queues returning to the border on a regular basis, especially at rush hour, while it will greatly affect Gibraltarians who will be forced to comply with the 90/180 day rule on the amount of time they can spend in Spain.
It comes after Barrero told the La Linea court that the border ‘fully complies’ with the Schengen Code when summoned in his complaint against his superiors.
The statement was at odds with the relaxed ‘wave through’ regime that has generally been in place as a ‘transitional arrangement’ – with the full knowledge of Brussels – since the UK left the EU in 2021.
Barrero also warned that passengers on flights to Gibraltar which are diverted to Malaga will also have to comply with strict Schengen requirements when entering Spain to transfer back to the Rock.
