Brexit has directly impacted Spain’s relationship with the
UK due to the Gibraltar issue. The British withdrawal from
the EU has forced the redefinition of the European statute
of Gibraltar, and its relations with Spain and the European
Union, in institutional, legal and economic terms. In this
context, novel mechanisms have also been devised
to regulate the treatment of cross-border cooperation
with Gibraltar, which has had intermittent phases in its
evolution over time. Within the framework of the British
exit process, a new model has been agreed in successive
EU-UK agreements that combine Hard Law (Primary EU
Law) with Soft Law (Memoranda of Understanding–MOU).
This regulation has required a specific prior BritishSpanish negotiation.
We will especially highlight the UK-EU Withdrawal Treaty
of 2019, which has formed an authentic system of crossborder cooperation involving the UK, the EU, Gibraltar
and Spain, through a series of Spanish-British bilateral
Memoranda interconnected with the Protocol on Gibraltar
of the Treaty, which in turn refers to the Tax Treaty. It is
a new system of concrete cooperation on the rights of
citizens and border workers, among other matter
