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The legislative elections are held this Thursday, October 17 in Gibraltar, a small British territory in southern Spain. Brexit is omnipresent among the 30 000 inhabitants of this peninsula of 7 km2.
With our special correspondent in Gibraltar , Juliette Gheerbrant
According to polls the ruling coalition (socialists and liberals) should be renewed. The stakes are of course local: housing prices, environment, tourism or education. But, within days of a possible rupture of the United Kingdom with the European Union, Brexit is omnipresent among the 30 000 inhabitants of this peninsula of 7 km2. The eyes are on the border with Spain that focuses all fears.
Brexit? We voted against! it's the first thing you hear in Gibraltar. 96% of "no" in the referendum. And above all, they want an open border. Many have families on both sides, and especially there is the question of the 15,000 workers who come every day from the border town of La Linea, mostly Spaniards, but also British.
An essential workforce: in the online betting industry, which accounts for a quarter of Gibraltar's GDP, 60% of employees are cross-border. Even concern for the goods in the worst case scenario, products from the UK could no longer transit through Spain and should arrive by boat. The port is developing new infrastructures for this purpose.
Despite this, the Gibraltarians remain confident. They recall that they knew years of blockade under Franco. The rock will soon lose access to the EU market, but 60% of its commercial activity is with the UK. And then 10% growth and less than 1% of unemployed, it should help cushion the effects - it is in any case what entrepreneurs hope.
In this context, little suspense, the ruling coalition should continue. There are 32 candidates for 17 seats of deputies.