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Author : Sam Shelley is a writer and travel blogger from Southampton, in the UK.

Below you can read the responses from an expat in Gibraltar that I've been speaking with on the topic:

"The border crossing fee will not directly effect me. We live in Gibraltar and only venture over to Spain for shopping or leisure activities. However I would say it will effect 95% of my husbands co-workers as they all live along the coast and travel down each day to Gibraltar. I know a lot of people are very concerned by this idea. The rumour mill here has it that this fee will only be applied to people driving in. If it is applied to pedestrians, I really wonder what will happen to those people who earn a lower income. Work is at an all time low in Spain so many people have no option other than commuting into Gibraltar to support their families, they rely on this money!"

"I think ultimately the fee will be more damaging to Spain. There will be people who earn what the proposed charge is in a day. So they will have no choice but to quit, there isn't any point in earning a wage just to pay it as a fee. So that will be even more people for Spain to support. 
I think it will also stop a large amount of people from Gibraltar travelling into Spain to shop, losing Spain even more revenue. 
A vast amount of Gibraltar's tourism comes from the cruise ships that dock in Gibraltar, so I can't see that taking a huge hit, but a large amount do come across the border. Gibraltar offers a really great day out. So I expect that a percentage of people will still travel across even with the fee, but perhaps it would deter those on a tighter budget. 
Either way I think it will be La Linea / Spain that suffers. So many people travel across from there to work in Gibraltar and the shops / restaurants / cafes in La Linea all benefit from having Gibraltar based custom. 
Also worth thinking about are the poor people who make a living from smuggling cigarettes. I can't see them making a living out of that activity if they have to pay ?50 a time to pass in or out of the border. So maybe some of the tobacconists in Gibraltar would feel the pinch there. And again the Spanish government is going to have to find more funds to support even more of its people!
I would also imagine the fee would impact the importation of food / certain goods into Gibraltar. Morrisons use a UK haulage company and I dare say our food prices would be increased if they start charging the HGV's to cross the border, I am guessing but I would imagine this would be the same case for many businesses that use the border between Spain and Gibraltar to import goods."

"I am English, so I am probably biased but I wouldn't want to be governed by Spain. My reasoning is that my Gibraltarian friends have all voted to remain under British rule. My personal reasoning is that our laws are fairer. Our Policing better. Our Police don't carry guns, they don't assault people (seriously Costa del Crime, opens your eyes!) We don't build roads through peoples homes. We have a fantastic healthcare system here in Gibraltar. We can see where our taxes are spent. The Police in La Linea were at one point using the local public transport to reach crime scenes as they had no funds for their own transport! I don't want to be told what to do by a governing body that allows that kind of failure to its people!"

Shortly Sam will be publishing the full article...