In recent days, right-wing outlets in London have portrayed mounting tensions over Spain’s relations with Gibraltar, a renewed war of words over the British territory to the south of Andalusia. Yet the feeling on the ground doesn’t reflect such nationalistic posturing. Rather, what we’re today seeing is a climate of cross-border solidarity — perhaps for the first time since Gibraltar aided left-wing republican refugees during the Spanish Civil War.

For centuries, the territory known as “the Rock” has been a geo-political football. While there are few consolations amid the public health crisis and economic catastrophe triggered by COVID-19, some communities have at least had to acknowledge their material interdependence.

Southern Spain begins north of the Gibraltar border, just a short walk from the Rock’s airport; the land border consists of high barbed wire fencing and an imposing black gate. COVID-19 public health measures blocked access to most civilians for almost three months, with those restrictions only being lifted this Wednesday.