The Association of Service Companies of the Bay of Algeciras (AESBA) has expressed its concern over the difficulties that various Spanish companies are facing to access Gibraltar and carry out work that they have been doing for years for clients established in the Rock. The association demands legal certainty and a clear procedure that allows maintaining cross-border activity without interruptions.
According to the information sent by the affected companies and collected by the employers' association, since last Monday there have been incidents at the border crossing that are preventing the access of workers assigned to carry out usual services for Gibraltarian clients. In some cases, professionals have been warned of the possibility of facing financial penalties if they accessed Gibraltar to perform certain activities, a warning that has generated concern among companies with ongoing contracts and assignments.
The involved sectors are varied. AESBA has identified incidents in companies dedicated to maintenance, repairs, moving, catering, and kitchen and furniture installation. In all cases, these are usual activities of the productive fabric of the Bay of Algeciras, with stable demand from Gibraltar, and in which the interruption of access poses immediate problems of contractual compliance, personnel planning, and billing.
The main concern expressed by the association refers to the lack of a clear procedure that allows companies to know precisely what requirements they must meet to continue providing services in the Rock with legal certainty. Companies have received information about the need to carry out certain administrative procedures and have an email and a contact phone number provided by the Gibraltarian authorities. However, as AESBA has emphasized, the available information is insufficient to know in detail what the applicable procedure should be in each case, especially when the type of service, the duration of the work, and the professional profile vary from one company to another.
The association has reminded that many of these companies have maintained commercial relationships with Gibraltarian companies for years and that the lack of certainty is generating difficulties in planning their activity. A large part of the affected services correspond to scheduled assignments in advance, with organized travel and specific personnel assigned, which means that any blockage in access has a direct effect on the end client and on the Spanish company itself that is forced to halt work.
AESBA understands that any modification in the conditions for providing services must be accompanied by clear, accessible, and sufficient information, so that companies can adapt to new requirements without this leading to a halt in their activity. The association considers it essential that there is effective communication with the business fabric to avoid situations of uncertainty that may affect both Spanish companies and Gibraltarian companies that depend on these services.
The employers' association has insisted on the importance of economic relations between both sides of the border developing in a framework of stability, transparency, and legal certainty, especially in a territory where cross-border business activity is an essential element for the economy and employment. Thousands of workers cross the border every day in both directions, and the provision of services by Spanish companies to clients in the Rock is part of a consolidated economic relationship for decades.
In this context, AESBA has made a call to the competent administrations to clarify, as quickly as possible, the procedures applicable to the provision of services in Gibraltar and to avoid interpretations that could compromise the activity of companies that have been operating normally for years. The association has requested that the framework of procedures be predictable and homogeneous so that a company can know, before moving its personnel, what authorizations it needs, what timelines the procedure demands, and what the consequences of non-compliance are.
The employers' association has announced that it will remain in contact with the affected companies to know the evolution of the situation and to convey the concerns of the sector to the competent administrations, with the aim of contributing to a solution that allows preserving normality in commercial relations and the competitiveness of companies on both sides of the border.
The episode occurs at a sensitive moment for the economic relationship between the Campo de Gibraltar and the Rock, in which the lack of a stable framework following the negotiation process after Brexit continues to condition the daily activity of thousands of companies and workers. The added uncertainty regarding services provided by Spanish companies threatens to extend to the subcontracting chain and to the Gibraltarian end clientele, which also depends on these providers for their daily operations.
