自1713年乌得勒支条约将直布罗陀正式置于英国统治以来，直布罗陀长期在英国身份与其与西班牙的深层经济联系之间保持平衡，但脱欧后即将落实的新协议是这种平衡的首次重大考验。该地区未被纳入2021年英欧贸易协定，欧盟边境生物识别数据的4月10日截止线与每日1.5万名过境工人的现实叠加，给居民带来持续不确定性，西班牙在谈判停滞时也曾通过放慢过境来施压。

新协议允许人员和货物在陆路边境自由往来，西班牙警方将对经直布罗陀机场入境的人执行检查，这一做法被英国外交部比作法国在圣潘克拉斯对欧洲之星旅客的核验。 在定制化关税同盟框架下，欧盟官员将清关进口货物，直布罗陀的0%增值税将被交易税替代，税率将在三年内逐步提高到欧盟最低17%标准。

西班牙也计划拆除边境围栏（la verja），并与英国共同管理机场，同时马德里将可拒绝直布罗陀居民身份申请。直布罗陀居民多将协议视为“相比替代方案的好消息”，这呼应了他们对1969年西班牙佛朗哥宣布的13年封锁记忆，但保守派尤其是改革党仍称其为“又一次屈辱的让步”，居民与商界同时担心边境更开放带来更多犯罪、削弱零售优势，以及对服务型经济的影响尚不确定；皮卡多在一方面称其是“短期痛苦换长期收益”，另一方面强调其主权并未因此更接近西班牙。

Since the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht placed Gibraltar under British rule, the territory had long balanced a British identity with deep economic links to Spain, but the post-Brexit deal now nearing implementation is the first major test of that equilibrium. Its exclusion from the 2021 UK-EU trade deal and the April 10 biometric-data deadline at EU borders, combined with 15,000 daily cross-border workers, created continuing uncertainty for residents, while Spain had used border slowdowns as leverage when talks were stalled.

The new deal allows the free movement of people and goods across the land border, and Spain will conduct airport checks on entries from Gibraltar in a manner Britain’s Foreign Office compared to French checks on Eurostar travelers at St Pancras. Under a tailored customs union, EU officials will clear imported goods, and Gibraltar’s 0% VAT will be replaced by a transaction tax rising over three years to the EU minimum rate of 17%.

Spain also plans to tear down the border fence (la verja) and co-manage the airport with Britain, while it gains the power to refuse Gibraltarian residence applications. Gibraltarians largely see it as “good news compared with the alternative,” a sentiment linked to memories of the 13-year blockade ordered by Franco in 1969, while critics such as Reform UK call it another humiliating surrender; residents and businesses worry the freer border may bring more crime and weaken zero-VAT retail appeal, with services-sector effects still uncertain despite one-third of British cars being registered via insurers, and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo frames the outcome as short-term pain for long-term gain without claiming any real sovereignty shift.

Source: Gibraltar is resigned to a closer embrace with Spai

Subtitle: A new deal on the British enclave trades short-term pain for long-term gai

Dateline: 4月 09, 2026 03:39 上午 | Gibraltar