Administrative Arrangement between the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, and Spain on Continued Surveillance and Uninterrupted Pursuit

This is the title and the opening of the administrative arrangement between Spain and the United Kingdom (UK), for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit. The UK, for Gibraltar, and Spain, together called the Participants (each one a Participant), note that, in it, "Agreement" means the treaty between the European Union (EU) and the UK on Gibraltar, as published in the Official Journal of the EU with the date 14 July 2026, marked as not yet published. They note that this arrangement sets out the practical arrangements referred to in the treaty, is made under the treaty, and is subject to the principles set out in the treaty and, in particular, to one article of the treaty. They note that neither the arrangement nor any activity or measure taken in applying it or as a result of it implies any change to the respective legal positions of Spain and the UK on sovereignty and jurisdiction in relation to Gibraltar. They also note that the arrangement, any arrangements related to it, and any measures, instruments or conduct taken in applying it, as a result of it or under it, do not affect, and will not in any other way affect, the respective legal positions of Spain or the UK on sovereignty and jurisdiction, and will not be the basis for any assertion or denial of sovereignty, including in legal proceedings or otherwise. They note the Participants' common interests in ensuring effective police cooperation, and they recognise that cooperation on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit can help counter cross-border criminality. They then set out what they have decided.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the UK, for Gibraltar, and Spain will step up cooperation on law enforcement, so supporting the common fight against international crime and illegal migration, and the mutual commitment to guarantee safe, secure and prosperous communities in both Gibraltar and the surrounding area, in particular the territory of the municipalities that make up the Mancomunidad de Municipios del Campo de Gibraltar.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, a joint working group on police cooperation (the "Working Group") will be set up. It will provide a forum for closer cooperation, the exchange of information and the coordination of operational collaboration on law enforcement. It will meet at least every three months or whenever the Participants consider it appropriate.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, each Participant will have an equal number of members in the Working Group, and they will inform each other of the members appointed and of any possible changes.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the Working Group will include representatives of the relevant competent authorities of the Participants.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the Working Group will adopt its rules of procedure and work by joint decision between the Participants.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the Working Group will set up an encrypted radio frequency as a designated communication channel to help operational collaboration on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit. Where appropriate, communication may also take place through the personnel stationed at the Second Line Checks Area, as set out in an annex of the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on how Schengen border checks and border surveillance will be carried out, or in writing.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, where detailed communication and coordinated action is necessary between the Participants, or for operational security reasons, this should be done through the designated contact points or the personnel stationed in the Second Line Checks Area.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the Working Group will designate points of contact to ensure permanent communication as needed, including specific designated points of contact for exchanging information on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the Working Group may propose action guidelines for the respective law enforcement services.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the competent authorities of each Participant are allowed to carry out continued surveillance in the territory of the other Participant, in line with the provisions of an article of the treaty.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the competent authorities of the Participants that intend to carry out continued surveillance in Gibraltar or Spain will inform the competent authorities of the other Participant, including through the encrypted radio frequency, in line with an earlier paragraph of this arrangement, as soon as possible and at the latest when they are about to enter the territory of the other Participant.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, if the competent authorities of the Participants decide to take over the surveillance operation, they will communicate this, including through the shared radio frequency, and the continued surveillance of the Participant that started it will then stop.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the surveillance will be carried out only under these general conditions: the competent authorities carrying out the surveillance must comply with three other paragraphs of this arrangement and with the law of Spain or of the UK, for Gibraltar, as the case may be, and they must obey the instructions of the competent local authorities; the competent authorities carrying out the surveillance must at all times be able to prove that they are acting in an official capacity; the officers carrying out the surveillance may carry their service weapons during the surveillance, unless the requested Participant specifically decides otherwise, and using them will be prohibited except in cases of legitimate self-defence; entry into private homes and places not accessible to the public will be prohibited; the competent authorities carrying out the surveillance may neither challenge nor arrest the person under surveillance; all operations will be reported to the competent authorities of Spain where the operations by officers of the UK, for Gibraltar, took place in Spain, and to the competent authorities of the UK, for Gibraltar, where the operations by officers of Spain took place in Gibraltar, and the officers carrying out the surveillance may be required to appear in person; and, when the authorities of the other Participant so request, the authorities the surveillance officers came from will assist the enquiry that follows the operation in which they took part, including in judicial proceedings.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the competent authorities of the Participants who are pursuing an individual caught in the act of committing, or of taking part in, one of the offences listed in an annex of the treaty may continue the pursuit in Gibraltar or Spain respectively, in line with an article of the treaty and with a range of later paragraphs of this arrangement. The same will apply where the person being pursued has escaped from provisional custody or while serving a sentence involving deprivation of liberty.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the competent authorities of the Participants that intend to carry out uninterrupted pursuit in the territory of the other Participant will inform the competent authorities of the other Participant, including through the encrypted radio frequency, in line with an earlier paragraph of this arrangement, no later than when the requesting officers are about to enter Spain or Gibraltar. This will include information on their route and the reasons for the pursuit.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, to ensure safety and security, the competent authorities of the Participants engaged in these activities will give continuous updates on location and activity through the encrypted radio frequency.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, if the competent authorities of Spain, or of the UK, for Gibraltar, decide to take over the pursuit, they will communicate this, including through the encrypted radio frequency, and the uninterrupted pursuit of the Participant that started it will then stop.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the pursuit will be carried out under one of the following procedures, defined by the declaration provided for in a later paragraph of this arrangement: in the first, the pursuing officers will not have the right to apprehend the pursued person; in the second, if no request to stop the uninterrupted pursuit is made and if the local competent authorities are unable to intervene quickly enough, the pursuing officers may detain the person pursued until the competent local authorities of the territory in which the pursuit is taking place, who must be informed immediately, are able to establish the person's identity or make an arrest.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, each Participant will make a declaration through the Working Group set up by this arrangement, in which it will define, on the basis of another paragraph of this arrangement, the procedures for carrying out a pursuit in Spain or Gibraltar respectively. Either Participant may at any time replace its declaration with another declaration, provided the new one does not restrict the scope of the earlier one. Each declaration will be made after consultation between the Participants, through the Working Group, with a view to obtaining equivalent arrangements on both sides.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, at the request of the pursuing officers, the competent local authorities will challenge the pursued person to establish the person's identity or to make an arrest.

Under the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit, the pursuit will be carried out only under these general conditions: the pursuing officers must comply with this arrangement and with the law of Spain or of the UK, for Gibraltar, in whose territory they are operating, as the case may be, and they must obey the instructions of the competent local authorities; entry into private homes and places not accessible to the public will be prohibited; the pursuing officers will be easily identifiable, either by their uniform, by an armband or by accessories fitted to their vehicles, and wearing civilian clothes combined with using unmarked vehicles without that identification is prohibited; the pursuing officers must at all times be able to prove that they are acting in an official capacity; the pursuing officers may carry their service weapons, but using them will be prohibited except in cases of legitimate self-defence; once the pursued person has been apprehended (if the declaration provided for in another paragraph of this arrangement allows it) to be brought before the competent local authorities, that person may only be subjected to a security search, handcuffs may be used during the transfer, and objects carried by the pursued person may be seized; after each operation, the pursuing officers will, before the competent authorities of Spain where the operations by officers of the UK, for Gibraltar, took place in Spain, and before the competent authorities of the UK, for Gibraltar, where the operations by officers of Spain took place in Gibraltar, report on their mission, and, at the request of those authorities, they will remain at their disposal until the circumstances surrounding their action have been sufficiently clarified, and this condition will apply even where the pursuit has not led to the arrest of the person pursued; and, when the authorities of the other Participant so request, the authorities from which the officers who carried out the pursuit came will assist the enquiry that follows the operation in which they took part, including judicial proceedings.

The administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit will take effect on the date of the last signature and will start to operate from the date the treaty enters into force.

Either Participant may end the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit by written notice through diplomatic channels. This arrangement will then stop having effect on the first day of the twelfth month after the date of the notice. If the treaty is terminated, this arrangement will stop being in force.

This is the closing record of the administrative arrangement between Spain and the UK, for Gibraltar, on continued surveillance and uninterrupted pursuit. It records that the text above sets out the understandings reached between the UK, for Gibraltar, and Spain on the matters it deals with.

Signed at Madrid on 25 June 2026: for the UK, for Gibraltar, by Sir Alex Ellis, Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, and for Spain by Carlos Moreno Blanco, Secretary General for the European Union.