Practically, ten years after the Brexit referendumGibraltar returns to the single market, the fence is definitively taken down, and while it remains under British sovereignty, the Rock cedes border control of ports and airports to the Spanish police. The future of Gibraltar now has a defined legal roadmap according to the full text of the agreement between Brussels, London, and Madrid, which the Spanish and British foreign ministries made public this Thursday morning. The legal formulation –a text of more than 1,000 pages– puts it in black and white the political agreement to which the three capitals involved In the negotiations, in addition to Gibraltar itself, they reached an agreement in June of last year.

Without effusive hugs like Emmanuel Macron or Volodymyr Zelensky, the premier British Prime Minister Keir Starmer received Pedro Sánchez in Downing Street this Wednesday afternoon, marking the first visit by a Spanish Prime Minister to the famous Number 10 in seven years, something Starmer found "incredible." In a lightning-fast trip lasting just over two hours, with very limited media coverage, no questions asked, and less than four minutes of open statements, the two discussed the significance of the meeting and the importance of the ties between the two countries, both on a human and commercial level. These ties have been sealed by the signing of a bilateral strategic agreement, "crucial," in Starmer's words, which aims to strengthen "cooperation after Brexit, and which is parallel and complementary to the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Union," according to the signed text.

Josep Farré (Barcelona, ​​1946) will once again be the oldest swimmer this Saturday, competing in an Open Water Championship. He was the oldest swimmer last April in Ibiza at the national tournament. Now he will repeat the goal in Tarragona with the aim of completing the three kilometers in a time close to an hour. "It's been many years since I've had the goal of improving my times. At the beginning, I did them in about 50 minutes, but over the years, it's normal to lose speed and strength," he explains in a conversation with ARA. At the Spanish Championships in April, he completed the crossing in one hour and two minutes.

The historic dispute over Gibraltar's sovereignty is set aside. No one was willing to give in on this. Their respective nationalist positions remain intact, both in Madrid and London. But the path of pragmatic negotiation has prevailed. Although five years have passed since Brexit—in fact, it was the last Brexit detail left to be finalized—an understanding has finally been reached. The most visible result is that, from now on, social and economic life on the Rock will return to a degree of normality.

Optimism in Gibraltar, cautious caution in Madrid, and expectant silence in London and Brussels. One of the many open chapters. in the wake of Brexit, the uncertain situation of the Rock and its citizens, seems about to be resolved after five years of negotiations between the various governments involved, as well as representatives of the territory, a British sovereign territory. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told the British press: "Now we can see the finish line."