Queues continue to be created in the heat by Spain while they test the new Technology at the busiest times!
The Spanish Government have ordered the testing of the new technology to be done at the busiest time for Cross Frontier Workers walking to work and back home .
This is now affecting not only tourists which is vital to our economy but now cross frontier workers and locals who want to either go to work or go to Spain for July Fair in La Linea.
Below is the pic taken at night.
This is not right - these queues are not seen in UK airports or the entrance and exit from France to Dover!
The excuse that UK is not in Schenghen is not acceptable.
Enough excuses and the EU need to stand up and take note just like our UK Government must!
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YGTV - http://www.yourgibraltartv.com/politics/9746-jul-27-government-spain-causes-maximum-disruption-at-border
Jul 27 Government: “Spain Causes Maximum
Disruption At Border”
Monday, 27 July 2015 20:13
The Gibraltar Office in Brussels has today
been asked to relay information to the
European Commission on the latest
pedestrian delays at the border caused by
the introduction of an Automated Border
Control system on the Spanish side.
Number Six says that these systems are
designed to improve the fluidity of traffic
across borders adding that “they are not
meant to make things worse.”
The Government received initial reports that the Policia Nacional started testing the new
system on 16 July at around 12 noon. This created a queue of about 30 minutes for persons
to enter Gibraltar on foot. Given the problem, at around 2pm on that day the Spanish
authorities ended the tests. These problems arose again at the end of last week when the
Policia Nacional started testing the system again.
The problem, argues the Government, is
that they chose to do so at peak time for persons exiting Gibraltar creating delays of up to an
hour in the process. This caused considerable disruption to many people, including the elderly
and children, who were stuck in a queue to enter Spain in over 30 degrees of heat.
The Government has described the scenes at the border as “shocking and unacceptable.”
The tests continued over the weekend and caught up people who were going to the fair in La
Linea on their way out of Gibraltar, and again in the early hours when they returned home
27/07/2015 Jul 27 Government: “Spain Causes Maximum Disruption At Border”
http://www.yourgibraltartv.com/politics/9746jul27governmentspaincausesmaximumdisruptionatborder 2/6
from the fair. This morning a 30 minute delay started at 7.40am which affected workers and
others coming into Gibraltar.
Number Six says that, whilst these have been more recent developments, it should be
remembered that, over a period of months, the Spanish authorities also failed to notify
Gibraltar in a timely manner of the border changes to their infrastructure, traffic lanes and
vehicle checks. In short, says the Government, “they have chosen not to behave as European
partners once again.”
Commenting on the latest disruption at the border, the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph
Garcia said:
“The arrival of the tourist season once again coincides with disruption and delays at the
border generated by the Spanish authorities. This time it is the manner in which Spain has
chosen to implement its infrastructure changes that has caused the problem. This is a serious
political problem but it also has a very real human dimension. There are thousands of people
who live in Spain and who work in Gibraltar who are once again being caught up in these
unacceptable delays. Those affected also includes tourists. The irony is that the majority of
those affected are Spanish citizens and that it is their own Government that is inflicting this
hardship upon them.
“In normal circumstances, is only to be expected that such a major change, which affects
thousands of people every day, would at the very least have been the subject of a public
information campaign on the part of Spain in order to create awareness among those persons
who cross the border on a daily basis. This has not happened which means that the element
of surprise has served to compound an already serious situation.
“The Government will continue to expose Spanish actions at the border for as long as it is
necessary. A fuller report, with photographs, statistics and media cuttings will follow what has
already been sent to Brussels.”
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GBC.gi
Government to complain to European Commssion about latest pedestrian border queues
The Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Joseph Garcia, will be complaining to the European Commission about the latest pedestrian queues caused by Spain’s new electronic gates. Last week electronic passport readers were introduced at the frontier and this has been causing delays.
With Spanish authorities testing the new security equipment at the frontier, during peak queuing times, pedestrian queues built up to an hour waiting time on Monday morning.
The new electronic gates are part of Spain’s commitment to reduce queues following the European Commission’s recommendations last year. Pedestrians are requested to scan EU Compliant electronic passports or ID cards, their fingerprints, and use face recognition technology.
According to a Number Six press release, the manner in which the Spanish Government is implementing its new system seems to be designed to cause as much disruption as possible.
Last Thursday saw the worst pedestrian queues so far this summer, with tailbacks reaching back to the former airport terminal in scorching temperatures.
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Source Gibraltar Chronicle
GOVT REPORTS ‘LONG QUEUES’ TO EU
The Gibraltar Government has included the long queues of Thursday afternoon at the frontier in its latest report to the EU. This was confirmed by Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia yesterday who said the report will be presented “in order to draw attention to the manner in which the Spanish government is implementing the recommendations made by the commission”.
“The effects of these seem to be designed to cause as much disruption as possible,” added Dr Garcia.The picture shows the extent of the queue at the border on Thursday afternoon.
The queues which started on Thursday early afternoon began when the new passport e-gates at the frontier going into Spain became operational. At one point the waiting time was as long as 40 minutes in the heat of the afternoon, but there were reports of some people having to wait up to an hour and the queues lasting late into the evening.
There were no queues reported yesterday.
Meanwhile the reports to the EU by the Gibraltar Government are sent periodically and also carry photographic evidence.
In a statement last night the Government said that whilst the Spanish authorities may claim that they were merely testing new security equipment at the frontier, the Gibraltar Government will stress that the equipment was being tested just at the time which would cause the maximum disruption.
“The main impact of the delays was on persons who work in Gibraltar and who live in Spain, including many thousands of Spanish workers who commute in and out of Gibraltar every day, as well on people coming to Gibraltar on a tourism visit or on business,” said Dr Garcia adding that the consequence of the new systems being conducted by the Spanish authorities on pedestrians was felt particularly strongly by the elderly, young children and disabled persons in wheelchairs who were made to wait to cross the border from Gibraltar into Spain.
SPANISH INTERIOR MINISTER
Meanwhile Europa Press yesterday said Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz had visited the port of Algeciras on Thursday to see at first hand the new intelligence system in place.
Commenting on the new operation at the border he explained how following the recommendations of the European Union, the Spanish Government had installed the system “to facilitate the transit of people and vehicles to Gibraltar.”
He told Europa Press: “it is operating normally and one hundred percent.”
He further explained that the system had first come into play at the border earlier than the commitment made by Spain to the EU.
He explained there were 13 booths installed in the area.
Fernandez Diaz insisted its operation was” operating a hundred percent” and that had been made “before the agreed term.”
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Source from Panorama.
Spanish National Police complain of under staffing at frontier - and warn Spanish Govt of conflict
July 27, 2015
The Spanish National Police are complaining of under staffing at the frontier and are warning the Spanish Government of the conflicts that could arise unless the matter is urgently rectified.
It follows what the Gibraltar Government itself has described as “disgraceful scenes” at the frontier last Thursday when, in temperatures above 35 degrees, long pedestrian queues ensued all the way back to the runway control barrier.
The Spanish National Police are in an oblique way effectively being supportive of what Gibraltar has witnessed. It is said that the Spanish director-general for the police had ordered that all the new filters at the frontier, 13 in total, be introduced forthwith, coinciding with a visit to the port of Algeciras by the Spanish interior minister as a similar ‘intelligent frontier’ system has been got going there as well.
But the police at the La Linea frontier are incensed that the go-ahead has been given without proper staffing. They say that 15 police officers are required at the frontier for the new system to work properly, when only seven per shift are in operation.
In order to ameliorate the problem, police were urgently sent to the frontier from other units operating in La Linea, with the consequent depletion of essential services elsewhere.
The National Police at the frontier say they are suffering great stress given the circumstances under which they are expected to operate, which requires an urgent response from their relevant authorities including the interior ministry.
What is known to the Spanish as the ‘intelligent frontier’ system is officially known by its English name, which is Automatic Border System.
Spanish police are also complaining that this new system is being introduced without any type of information being provided to frontier users who daily cross the frontier.
One of two Spanish police unions also says that the A.B.C. system has been provided by a Portuguese company which has given them only one talk of some 2 hours explaining how the system works, with some of them claiming that they could not understand what it was all about as the person giving the talk was not too conversant with the Spanish language.
It would appear that neither the police nor the public, have been fully briefed about the new system.
Further, it could be that the system was suddenly given the go-ahead because the Spanish interior minister was in the area, as it turned out the minister visited the installations in the Algeciras port but did not bother to go to the La Linea frontier. It may have been too close to comfort to Gibraltar!
It could well be that, with the minister no longer in sight, the Spanish National Police headquarters in Madrid might tell La Linea to go back to normal and await further instructions. . .time will tell what exactly is going on. . .but certainly it is not as easy as A.B.C.
27-07-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
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Where is the EU now - so much for the EU visits of the Commission and the EU JUstice! When will they learn that Spain is only after Gibraltar and will do anything to cause bad propaganda and try to damage our economy!
Well SPAIN you will have to continue to wait as we will remain British forever!
Gerald Struggles
