Gibraltar is stockpiling emergency medical supplies in hidden tunnels below its iconic Rock in case Brexit negotiations over the border with Spain fail.
After Brexit, border controls were waived for Gibraltarians and Spaniards as an interim measure to buy time for the talks, which have dragged on for three years.
Spain has stepped up pressure on London to accept EU border demands since Sir Keir Starmer surrendered sovereignty of the Chagos Islands earlier this month.
Madrid’s warnings that a “no deal” will mean a hard border have spurred fears the negotiations will collapse in acrimony and potentially delay or block imports.
“Maintaining stock levels, especially for the health service, is an essential part of preparations for a non-negotiated outcome,” a government spokesman told The Telegraph.
Gibraltar’s government is using the 33 miles of tunnels and chambers dug under the Rock by the British Army over the last 200 years to store life-saving supplies.
The first tunnels, which now stretch to almost double the length of Gibraltar’s road network, were dug during the Great Siege of Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783.
The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and later the Second World War led to the most intense period of tunnelling under the 1,398ft high landmark.
It created a fortress that could hold 16,000 men with all the supplies needed to withstand a prolonged siege. Tunnelling was stopped in 1968 and the fortress was handed over to Gibraltar’s government.
Madrid has historically put a chokehold on the border to score political points over the British overseas territory, which it says is a colony and should be part of Spain.
In 1969, the Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco shut the border, which caused shortages of oxygen supplies at Gibraltar’s hospital, in an effort to force the Rock to its knees.
The border stayed shut until 1985 in a period that cemented Gibraltar’s determination to stay British.
Fifteen thousand people, including 11,000 Spaniards who work on the Rock, cross the land border every day, which is vital for the economy on both sides of the frontier but was put at risk by Brexit.
On Friday, concerned workers in La Linea will hold a protest, urging all sides to find an agreement rather than jeopardise their livelihoods by introducing full border controls in a no-deal outcome.
Juan Franco, the La Linea mayor, handed out leaflets to cross-border commuters on Tuesday before the demonstration. They were emblazoned with the message: “We don’t want another 1969.”
The UK, Gibraltar, Spain and the EU all want a post-Brexit deal to make the border frictionless.
They agree this should be done by making Gibraltar part of the EU’s Schengen Zone of passport-free movement and moving the border to the Rock’s nearby airport.
Negotiations have faltered on sovereignty grounds, such as first minister Fabian Picardo’s insistence that there will be no Spanish border guards on Gibratarian soil, and how the airport could be jointly managed.
This month, Spain urged London to accept the “generous” deal or face a hard border when a new EU electronic border system is introduced in November.
The new system has since been delayed indefinitely but Spain is still warning that the interim measures waiving controls cannot last for ever.
On Oct 11, Spanish border guards reimposed Schengen controls in a surprise move for several hours, sparking chaotic scenes and long delays.
It came just after a British Airways flight from Gibraltar to London was cancelled after Spanish border guards refused to follow established protocols allowing passengers to fly from Malaga airport if a flight is diverted.
The flight was diverted because of poor weather conditions, but the airline cancelled the return leg after Spanish officers refused to allow non-EU passengers in Gibraltar to be ferried to Malaga.
