The European Commission assessed the legality of the border checks on 25 September (Photo: BBC)
(VOVworld) – The European Commission, the EU executive body, on Friday put forth recommendations to resolve the UK and Spain’s controversy over the Gibraltar issue. The EC’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs Michelle Cherkone said that EC experts had inspected the border between these two countries and found no proof of Britain’s claims that Spain had violated European Union rules on border and customs checks at Gibraltar's border.
Diplomatic tension between the two occurred in August when Gibraltar's authorities put concrete blocks to build an artificial reef. Blaming the move to affect its fishing grounds, since late August, Spain had increased checks of travelers and means of transports crossing the border between the country and Gibraltar. The move has caused traffic jams for hours and influenced the daily life of thousands of regular travelers there.
Covering an area of 6.8 square kilometers, Gibraltar has about 30,000 people and is the unique gateway to the Mediterranean area from the Atlantic Ocean. Spain has continuously pressured the locals to control the land although the UK and Spain reached an agreement on dividing the sovereignty there. The 1967 and 2002 polls showed that Gibraltar people themselves didn’t want to be part of Spain.