The French minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, has stated in Barcelona, in a conversation with French journalists, that he is ready to fully reopen the Coll de Banyuls border crossing, between the French and Spanish states, as well as others that are currently closed, on the condition that police brigades are created by the two states "to fight against terrorism and clandestine immigration", according to Equinox Ràdio. He added that this is precisely what is being debated, and that there will be further talks, which indicates that the proposal has not yet been accepted by Spain.
A Barcelone, le ministre de l’intérieur @GDarmanin
— Equinox Barcelone (@equinoxbcn) January 19, 2023
annonce la réouverture totale de la frontière France-Espagne à la condition de créer des brigades policières des deux pays pour lutter contre le terrorisme et l'immigration clandestine
🛑Le live : https://t.co/nyE5jyHKR8 pic.twitter.com/Uvs1p6VARG
The two governments failed today to agree on the opening of all the border crossings that Emmanuel Macron's country has kept closed since 2019. In fact, both delegations agreed at the Sánchez-Macron summit in Barcelona to create a working group to address the issue of the eight secondary border crossings that remain closed at the will of the French executive.
Macron denies that keeping these border crossings closed in any way violates the Schengen agreement, and has attributed everything to security needs. In fact, he mentioned the truck attack in Nice in 2016, the work of a person who at that time was in an irregular residency situation in the country, and who came from Italy. "These are exceptional procedures that have been justified by circumstances on the Spanish and Italian borders", he said, in addition to affirming that in both Madrid and Paris they want to work for "cooperation and effectiveness in the common fight against those who organize clandestine emigration and human trafficking".
The Coll de Banyuls, in the Albera range at the extreme eastern end of the Pyrenees, is, like many of the closed crossings, a connection that is primarily used by local traffic and its closure has split the Catalan-speaking communities on either side. The exiled Catalan politician Clara Ponsatí joined a protest at the mountain pass late last year and for some minutes stood within the Spanish state for the first time in years.
It was the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who announced that the issue will continue to progress in a working group agreed between the interior ministries of both states. In the press conference following the Spanish-French summit, Macron committed to "improving cooperation" between the two administrations and proposing "operational solutions" in favour of increasing security at border crossings.