The Chief Minister of Gibraltar today said Spanish authorities had eased border controls since David Cameron threatened the country with legal action.
Fabian Picardo said Spanish border guards were still “playing games” to delay travellers crossing into the British territory.
But he reported that the Prime Minister’s unprecedented threat to take Spain to the European Court of Justice if controls were not lifted had seen delays shortening.
The dispute also coincided with a “routine” Royal Navy exercise which saw type 23 frigate HMS Westminster leave Portsmouth for Gibraltar today.
Speaking on Sky News Mr Picardo said: “What we’ve been seeing for the past four or five days is that there’ll be a queue that is set up for about an hour and if you calculate how long it’s taking each car to go through, you may be told it’s going to take the last car in that queue two and a half hours.
“But there haven’t been queues for longer than an hour since David Cameron banged the table and made clear to his Spanish counterpart that this was unacceptable.”
The most recent row over Gibraltar was triggered after the territory’s authorities created an artificial reef which Spain claims will destroy fishing in the area.
Madrid reacted by beefing up border controls leading to lengthy queues, proposing a £43 fee for vehicles crossing the border and suggesting Spanish air space could be closed to flights to Gibraltar.
Mr Cameron yesterday hit out at the Spanish border checks condemning them as “politically motivated and totally disproportionate”.
