France-Spain: the border is closed, the goods pass

Text by: David Baché

Nearly 25,000 dead on both sides: the Franco-Spanish border separates two of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus in Europe. A border closed since March 16, like others in Europe, to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Impossible to pass, except in certain specific cases. How are the controls carried out? Who is allowed to pass, and to do what?

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From our special envoy at the Franco-Spanish border,

Road traffic between France and Spain has dropped by 70% since the border was closed. More than 20,000 vehicles still pass from one country to another, every day, according to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. These are mainly cross-border workers and freight trucks, the only ones still allowed to pass. 

Provided you can justify it: "  There is proof of professional travel, the certificate of international departure to France, and the professional travel certificate, explains patiently Gorka Etchepar, driving his car, presenting to a police officer has his documents meticulously stored in a plastic bag. And on the other side, I have the Spanish version!  "

►  Also read:Covid-19 in Europe: containment provokes an unprecedented surge of solidarity

Thirteen authorized crossing points

Of the 30 crossing points that dot the more than 600 km of border, 13 are still accessible. For example, that of the Pont Saint-Jacques, or Puente San Tiago, which links Irun, in Spain, to Hendaye, in France. Most of the people pass here, who live on one side of the border and work on the other. "  I am a meat wholesaler," continues Gorka Etchepar, with papers so tidy, and I make my deliveries there, in Spain!  »Relations with the French police or with the Spanish Civil Guardia? "  Well, on both sides, it's okay, it works. You have to applaud them.  "   

Right behind, in the line of vehicles overlooking the Bidassoa river, Benito Varela is no more impatient: “  I live in Spain and I work in France, in a construction company. I cross the border every day, sometimes even two or three times to get equipment, and it's going very well. You have to wait a few minutes, show your papers, but that's the situation that wants it, and everything is going well.  At least when you're in good standing.

A thousand of repressed

Since the border closed a month and a half ago, Spain has turned back more than a thousand people, according to official figures. On the French side, no figures, but a few details: "  These non-admissions apply in particular to seasonal workers," explains Commissioner Judith Gäbel, interdepartmental director of the border police. These are precarious contracts, which do not fall within the framework of cross-border workers, and which therefore do not have authorization to enter French territory.  "

A measure that complicates the task of farmers, French and Spanish, since they lack a precious seasonal workforce during this harvest period. But which is obviously justified by a principle of health security: limit movement to limit the spread of the virus.

► Read also: Coronavirus: in Western Europe, the puzzle of the agricultural sector to recruit seasonal workers 

" We have a lot of calls "

Of the 1,000 refusals of entry reported by the Spanish authorities, around 400 were seasonal workers. For the rest, according to Commissioner Gäbel, who essentially comments on the French refusals, it would mainly be people who are ill-informed or do not have with them all the documents necessary for the passage. 

“  We have a lot of calls from people asking if they have the right to cross the border. These are many special cases. We make it our duty to help our fellow citizens as well as possible by providing them with as much information as possible,  ”says Judith Gäbel. 

Police without mask

The police check the authorizations but no health control is carried out. And the police, who multiply interactions throughout the day, are not equipped with a mask. A few kilometers away, the Biriatou crossing point is located in the middle of the highway. Freight trucks, which come from all over Europe, are particularly frequent. 

Stéphane Jourdain transports chemicals between Bilbao, in Spain, and Bordeaux, in France. "  I make this trip several times a week," explains the truck driver, who says he is not bothered by the border closure and by the reintroduction of controls. There is much less traffic, there are almost no more cars. Transport (trucks, editor's note) too: there, it comes back a little, but there was a big drop.  "

Reopening is not planned

The truck drivers encountered highlight the diversity of cases with regard to the protections they enjoy. Stéphane Jourdain, who transports dangerous products, was one step ahead: “  I have a cartridge mask, compared to the product I transport, a personal mask, and an FFP2 mask. I also have work glasses, gloves ... We are well equipped, my company has done the necessary.  " 

Victor Vasquez, a Barcelona trucker who unloads glass bottles intended to be filled with wine near Bordeaux, is less fortunate. "  I only have one mask," he says, " and I had to buy it myself, with my money. So I put it on every day. I also have gloves.  "

Deconfinement is gradually taking shape, in France and Spain, but the reopening of the border is not, at this stage, planned.

► Read also: Coronavirus: global wine sales plummet due to the pandemic

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