Spain removes Gibraltar from tax haven list after 35 years

Spain has officially removed Gibraltar from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions after 35 years. The decision was set out in a ministerial order published in the Official State Gazette on Saturday. It means Spain no longer classifies Gibraltar as a tax haven, alongside several other jurisdictions that remain on the list.

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The move follows a bilateral tax cooperation agreement signed between Spain and Gibraltar in 2019, which entered into force in March 2021. According to the Spanish Ministry of Finance, the implementation of that agreement has been deemed satisfactory. The ministry also said Gibraltar is part of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and no longer operates a low- or zero-tax regime under OECD standards.

Gibraltar has also joined the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and has ratified Pillar Two, the OECD-backed arrangement that sets a 15% global minimum tax for multinationals. Gibraltar's Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, welcomed the decision and described it as the end of what he called a historic injustice lasting more than 30 years. He said the change should have happened long ago.

The decision has significance beyond the immediate tax classification. It comes as the regulatory framework between Gibraltar, the European Union and the United Kingdom continues to take shape after Brexit. The European Commission put forward an agreement to the Council in February 2026 that included commitments on fair taxation and anti-tax-evasion standards aligned with OECD criteria.

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That wider process has been closely watched because Gibraltar's status has long been a point of political and regulatory sensitivity. The removal also reflects a broader shift in how tax transparency is assessed internationally. Spain's order was based on technical criteria rather than diplomatic considerations, according to the information released.

At the same time, some critics argue that formal transparency lists do not fully capture how tax systems operate in practice. The Tax Justice Network, for example, continues to rank Gibraltar among corporate tax havens and estimates that it contributes to significant revenue losses elsewhere. The immediate question now is how the change will affect Spain's wider tax policy and its dealings with Gibraltar in the months ahead.

It is also unclear how much practical impact the removal will have on business behaviour, given that international assessments can differ on whether a jurisdiction is considered compliant. What to watch next is whether the new framework helps reduce long-running disputes over taxation, transparency and cross-border regulation in the Gibraltar area.

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