The Government is planning a major refurbishment of the pedestrian and vehicular entrances to Gibraltar at the land border with Spain.

The refurbishment had been delayed pending the negotiation of a treaty with the European Union. This is because of the plans to install a battery of automatic border control gates on the Gibraltar side, in addition to the manual checks, in order to allow for a more fluid access of persons in the event of a No Negotiated Outcome to the treaty. The use of these e-gates will allow more people to be processed at the same time. The e-gate proposal already has planning permission.

The intention is to submit the proposed refurbishment of the pedestrian arrivals hall and the external areas for vehicles to the Development and Planning Commission, given that it would make sense to carry out the two projects at the same time, in the event that the e-gates become necessary.

The Minister for Tourism Vijay Daryanani, who is responsible for visitor entry points, said that the proposed refurbishment of the land access points will dramatically improve the experience for the many millions of people who come through the border on an annual basis.