Spain, Britain Begin Talks on Rock’s Future : Gibraltar Gateway Opens After 16 Years

At 30 seconds past midnight today, a Spaniard swung open a green metal gate, letting the first cars cross the border from Gibraltar in the 16 years since the late Spanish leader Francisco Franco shut off the British colony from Europe.

Franco’s hope was that he would win back for Spain the “guardian of the Mediterranean,” ceded to Britain through the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. His wish has not come true.

Minutes after the gate was opened, five cars from Gibraltar were firebombed at La Linea, on the Spanish side of the border. Witnesses said two men running from the scene escaped into a crowd of about 2,000 Spaniards who had gathered for the opening of the Rock’s only land link with the outside world.

Police said no one has been detained in connection with the incident and they have no suspects.

The opening of the frontier barrier was a condition for talks that opened today in Geneva between British and Spanish officials over the future of the 2.2-square-mile fortress colony and its 31,183 inhabitants.

The negotiations, to settle centuries of enmity over the rock at the point where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet, could take years.

With the easing of restrictions today, people who are not Gibraltarians or Spaniards can cross the border. Spaniards and Gibraltarians have been allowed to cross on foot since December, 1982.