EU Parliament rejects frontier complaint by former Spanish Police Inspector

The European Parliament has voted to close its investigation into Spain’s alleged breaches of the Schengen Borders Code at the Gibraltar frontier. The move was backed by mainstream parties, including the Partido Popular, socialists, greens, and liberals. It leaves  only far-right groups like Vox supporting further action.

The complaint originated from David Barrero, the suspended Spanish police inspector, who claims Spain is failing to apply proper passport checks for Gibraltarians.

While the process has now been closed by the European Parliament, the European Commission is still reviewing David Barrero’s complaint, which it accepted in March. It says it will assess whether Spain’s actions breach EU law and could launch infringement proceedings, though such interventions are rare.

In a separate ruling, the La Línea Court dismissed David Barrero’s earlier complaint, finding the current bridging measures at the Gibraltar frontier lawful and consistent with the EU Council’s authorisation of UK-EU negotiations over Gibraltar.

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior has not commented publicly on the case, but it ordered David Barrero’s suspension, which remains in effect.