Brexit Dims Outlook For Both Sides Of Spain-Gibraltar Border

It's morning rush hour at the border between Spain and Gibraltar and virtually all the traffic is flowing from the downtrodden Spanish city of La Linea de la Concepcion into the wealthy British territory.

Gibraltar, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2018 ) :It's morning rush hour at the border between Spain and Gibraltar and virtually all the traffic is flowing from the downtrodden Spanish city of La Linea de la Concepcion into the wealthy British territory.

After a quick check of their identity papers, hundreds of people walk briskly across the only runway at Gibraltar's airport to their jobs in the tiny British enclave perched on a rocky outcrop on Spain's southern tip.

Gibraltar has close to full employment and it has long been a lifeline for people who live in the adjacent area of Spain known as "El Campo de Gibraltar", which has one of the European Union's highest jobless rates.

But when Brexit comes, it could mean tighter controls at what would be a new border between Britain and the European Union which could jeopardise the easy flow of people that has benefited both Gibraltar and "El Campo".

"I worry they will demand some sort of work visa. No one knows what will happen," said Miguel Pereira, 53, who has commuted to a job at a tobacco warehouse in Gibraltar from the adjoining city of La Linea for over three decades.

An electrician by training, the married father of two said he would try to find work in the same field in La Linea if working in Gibraltar becomes unviable. But this would be a challenge.

The city has a jobless rate of just over 31 percent. It has been dubbed the "drug capital of Spain" because of the gangs that operate there, employing jobless youths to bring loads of hashish in from nearby Morocco on high-speed boats.