£5.50ish in Gib duty paid and it comes from Spain

It has been reported dmany times that over 20% of tabacco products sold in the UK are either smuggled,phoney or both.

Everybody seems to want to make a big thing about cigarette smuggling from Gib into Spain.
The frontier is 1200 mtrs long 400 mtrs are in the Spanish frontier customs area leaving 800 mtrs that the Spanish are either incapable of controlling or unwilling to do so.

Andorra has a frontier of over 100 kms more than 60 kms of it with Spain.
Andorra has cheap cigarettes.
Are the Spanish blockading that frontier ?

We all know why it's happening Fred.

Correct me me but a few are unwilling to accept the truth.

As for taxing ciggies more because they cause deaths why not remove all taxes. Stress causes a huge number of deaths and paying exorbitant taxes must raise stress levels in everyone, non smokers included.
Let's call for tax on serious things at 200+% such as MEPs' salaries and expenses, if they don't like it or don't get enough in brown envelopes they can always resign.
M

Margallo steps up lobbying in New York ahead of UN sessions

José Manuel García-Margallo, Spain’s Foreign Minister, is a man with a mission in New York after he arrived at the seat of the United Nations yesterday leading a campaign to secure a non-permanent place on the UN Security Council for 2014-16. But with the decolonisation sessions poised to commence in the coming weeks there are clear indications that Madrid intends to step up the pressure on the Gibraltar question, possibly as leverage for support on the Security Council, of which UK is a permanent member.

And in the clearest indication of the focus being placed by Spain to collapse the stalemate on tripartite talks into a reversion to a bilateral, more Brussels Agreement like structure, the latest official UN working paper on Gibraltar published carries many new additions from Spain seeking to cement its pre-Cordoba position on the Rock.

http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=33816

Spain's plans for border upgrades revealed

A dramatic five-million euro overhaul of the Spanish side of the frontier will see four lanes of traffic to enter Spain, and six lanes of traffic to enter Gibraltar, and will be completed by the end of this year.

http://www.gbc.gi/news/3614/spain%27...rades-revealed

Funded by the EU

Couldn't make it up...bet they will only have one lane open.

I doubt the crossing time will improve

Also can anyone tell me "will be completed by the end of this year." is that before or after mañana

You are a bit at a cynic, you know that don't you?

presumably all 4 lanes will become Red lanes to allow the GC to inspect more cars more slowly

well at least it will be EU money, I wouldn't like any of it to be my money

Agreed

But lets look at the facts, almost 6 months ago both Gib and Spain were given 6 months by the EU to make changes to the frontier.
Gib set about immediately and all the changes are now in place.
Spain is still at the planning phase otherwise nothing has been done.

The EU's idea to create more lanes at the frontier is basically a waste of money.

On the Gib side on leaving there are 2 lanes which expand into 6 to create a holding area and then back into 2 at the frontier itself, after the frontier there are only 2 lanes on the Spanish roads. There is enough space within the Spanish customs area if used correctly for them to pull cars out of the main flow and search them. The only thing lacking is the Spanish will to co-operate.

On the Spanish side entering Gib there are 2 lanes in Spain and 3 in Gib one of them being the red lane then reducing back to 2 on the Gib roads.

If one looks at
http://www.frontierqueue.gi/split-view-cam.aspx
you will see a twitter feed which guesses the queue time and sometimes puts up the 30minute flow rate.

That 30 minute rate has varied from 6 cars per 30 minutes up to somewhere around 250 cars per 30 minutes.

No more need be said

There are only bad queues when the PP are in government

Agree with Fred. The number of lanes and any other changes in road design on either side of the border is a total waste of time and money. No physical changes are needed. The border would flow freely if the Spanish authorities weren't so pig headed and obstructive.

EU money is your money and mine. We pay for it with taxes and VAT.