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Brexit still has one unfinished business: Gibraltar

As London and Brussels celebrate the end of a four-year saga known as Brexit, there is still one British territory that remains in limbo: Gibraltar

A British colony located in the extreme south of Spanish territory, Gibraltar was not included in the post-Brexit trade agreement that was announced on Christmas Eve between the European Union and the United Kingdom to reorganize trade relations between the now block of 27 nations and the first country to leave the group.

The deadline for Gibraltar remains January 1, when a transition period that regulates the small border between Gibraltar and Spain expires. If an agreement is not finalized, there are several concerns that a complicated border could cause problems for workers, tourists and for the connections of large companies on both sides.

Spain was successful in convincing the EU to separate the Gibraltar issue from the larger Brexit negotiations, meaning that Madrid is taking over all negotiations directly with its counterparts in Gibraltar and London.

Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha González said last Thursday that if an agreement is not reached, she fears that the long lines of truck drivers that were seen in the English Channel a few days ago could be repeated.

During the Brexit negotiations, Spain has insisted that it wants to comment on the future of Gibraltar.

More than 15,000 people live in Spain and work in Gibraltar, which represents around 50% of the workforce in the British territory. Gibraltar’s 34,000 or so inhabitants were against Britain leaving the European Union. In the 2016 referendum on Brexit, 96% of voters in Gibraltar were in favor of remaining in the bloc they feel gives them more influence to deal with the Spanish government.

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