Dire straits: Gibraltar faces Brexit chaos against its will
GIBRALTAR — All Antonio Molina has to do to cross the border into Gibraltar for work is wave an identity card, barely slowing his motorbike’s pace.
The Spanish delivery man’s job depends on the border being open, a fact that’s under threat as Britain leaves the European Union, dragging the overseas territory with it. Molina’s livelihood, like that of some 300,000 people who work in the region, is on the line.
“There is much fear because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” says the 46 year-old father of two, a Spanish citizen and resident who is applying for his first passport ever in case border controls become stricter. “We live in limbo; you hear one thing today and a different thing tomorrow.”
Britain has controlled the rocky speck of land for three centuries against Spain’s wishes. But being in the EU has meant the border has been open to the unlimited flow of workers, goods and money. That could end if Britain leaves the EU without retaining access to the bloc’s single market. And Spain could use the situation to press for greater control of the territory.