Wartime tunnels bored into The Rock cleared for stockpiles in case Brexit deal sours

THE Rock of Gibraltar towers over the border with Spain, where a steady stream of up to 15,000 workers pass back and forth almost seamlessly over the frontier every day.

It is an enduring symbol of resistance to Madrid’s centuries-old sovereignty claim and adorns postcards and souvenirs sold in the British Overseas Territory shops for tourists. The 1,398ft high landmark is also a key part of the Gibraltarian government’s emergency Brexit plans.

The mountain is honeycombed with 33 miles of tunnels and chambers, some dating back to great sieges of the past, and which cover more than Gibraltar’s land mass of two and a quarter square miles.

During the Second World War, a subterranean fortress, impervious to heavy bombardment, was carved out and General Eisenhower planned Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, under the Rock.

Gibraltarian officials have cleared out some tunnels and vaults to stockpile vital supplies or blocked exports to Spain in case a deal is not reached.

“This should increase our storage capacity from something like two days to two months,” Dr Joseph Garcia, the deputy chief minister of Gibraltar, told The Sunday Telegraph and said some caverns were “the size of cathedrals”.

Brexit is still not done in Gibraltar, where 95.9 per cent of people voted to Remain in 2016, after last year’s deal deadline was missed. In the dying hours of last year, transition arrangements to buy time for more talks were agreed.

However, the border crossing with Spain could soon be consigned to history if UK and EU negotiators, who meet next week, strike a post-Brexit deal to create freedom of movement with Spain. It would make the crossing, a vital part of the economy in Gibraltar and neighbouring Andalucia, invisible.

Now, in a mitigated no deal, Spanish border guards turn a blind eye to EU rules by not stamping Gibraltarians’ passports when they cross, if they can show a resident’s card. If the documents were stamped, they would be subject to a 90-day limit in visa-free travel agreed in the Brexit negotiations with the UK.

Spanish citizens pass through automatic e-border gates at the border. If a deal is reached frontier checks will be moved to Gibraltar’s nearby airport, a short walk away, and its port.

That would free Gibraltarians and Spaniards to cross into each other’s territory with no checks in a common travel area.

Fears that Brexit would spell disaster for Gibraltar were soothed when it became clear there would be minimal impact on the UK-focused financial services and online gaming industries, which are the pillars of the local economy with the port and tourism.

But the territory is entirely dependent on its Spanish workforce to staff its offices, bars and service industry.

“We are short of manpower,” said Christian Hernandez, the president of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce.

“If we get to a position where these workers are not able to come to work every day because they are going to face a three-hour queue then that is going to have quite a damaging effect for our economy.”

Gibraltar imported almost £381million of goods and services from Spain in 2013.

Spanish frontier workers earned more than £102million in 2013 and over £65million of this money was spent in the neighbouring Andalucía regions of economic activity.

Covid hit Gibraltar and its economy hard but the Iberian peninsula did benefit from the UK’s early lead in the vaccination race. Many frontier workers got their jabs on the Rock.

Now, under the mass of its most famous landmark, Gibraltarians are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best.

‘If these workers are not able to come because they face a three-hour queue then that will damage our economy’