The lunchtime flight from Madrid to Gibraltar last April 20 carried a rather distinguished, if discrete, passenger.

She was a commuter from the Spanish capital with important business in Algeciras. She also happened to be a member of the Spanish Cabinet.

Magdalena Álvarez, Spain’s Public Works Minister, was on her way to make an announcement about a new heliport. She barely stepped foot in Gibraltar, staying just long enough to climb onto the bus that ferried her across the border.

But in doing so she highlighted an important fact: even senior Government ministers find the Gibraltar-Madrid air bridge useful.

Passenger numbers on the Madrid-Gibraltar route remain modest but are edging north slowly. Driving much of that volume are business travellers from either side of the border.

After making the announcement in Algeciras last month, Mrs. Álvarez began her journey back to Madrid by taking a train from the Spanish port city. Her schedule meant she and her delegation missed the return flight from Gibraltar.

Had her appointment been a month later, she may not have had that problem. With the May launch by GB Airways of a second daily service to Madrid, commuters are able to get to and from the Spanish capital in a day, with time in between for business.

The Cordoba Agreements are starting to bed down and the signs are evident, not least at the airport.

At the end of March, Jose Pons, Director General for Europe at the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, highlighted the airport’s key role during a speech to the annual dinner of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce.

The occasion was heavy with symbolism. Mr. Pons was speaking just hours after the first meeting in Gibraltar of the Trilateral Forum for Dialogue. He had become the most senior Spanish Government official to visit the Rock on official business.

Even before he began his speech to the high-powered audience of business leaders gathered at the Chamber dinner in the Casino, Mr. Pons underscored the significance of what was happening that day.

“My presence here is more important than my words,” he told the guests at the dinner.

In a wide-ranging speech, the Spanish diplomat spoke of the airport becoming a “platform for progress” that would benefit all the citizens of the region.

According to Mr. Pons, the number of visitors to the Campo de Gibraltar and overnight hotel stays rose by 20% in the three months since the first flight from Madrid.

“The airport is not only boosting tourism,” he said. “The business community now enjoys easy and rapid access to destinations all over the world that were previously only possible via London.”

Nicholas Russo, president of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce, also made reference to the new business climate during a short speech as he introduced Mr. Pons that night. Mr. Russo revealed that blue chip Spanish companies “who were apparently waiting backstage for the Spanish Government to make the first move towards Gibraltar are now queuing up to commence business here.”

He told the dinner that “the tacit blessing of Gibraltar by the Spanish Government implied in the Cordoba Agreements means many Spanish companies now feel comfortable about doing business here.”

During his speech Mr. Pons focused heavily on the gains that had already been achieved as a result of the process of dialogue. He stressed that his Government was committed to fostering the new climate of normality in relations between Gibraltar and Spain.

He acknowledged that the sovereignty issue meant that there would always be areas where Gibraltar and Spain disagreed, but said the focus should now be on addressing the day-to-day matters that affect citizens in the region, and not on the issues that separate the two communities.

Mr. Pons spoke of working for “a common future, a future of progress, respect and mutual understanding.” And he urged a clean break from the past.

“We must avoid adopting positions that evoke ghosts from the past that have already disappeared,” he said. “No one in Spain is acting with the intention of damaging the Gibraltarians.”

Earlier that day, the Gibraltar meeting of the Trilateral Forum for Dialogue had established the main elements of the next round of agreements that Gibraltar, Spain and the UK are now working toward.

At the meeting, all three sides acknowledged the progress achieved so far in respect of the four elements of the initial agreement reached in Cordoba last year.

The settlement on Spanish pensions has been accepted by 99% of the affected pensioners. The agreement relating to telecommunications issues has been implemented. In terms of fluidity at the frontier, considerable improvement has occurred.

The three governments also identified the next set of issues for the future work of the Trilateral Forum.

“This work will include cooperation on environment issues, financial services and tax, judicial and law enforcement cooperation, education, maritime communications and Schengen Visa issues,” they said in a statement at the time.

“The Forum will also deal with specific issues as they arise in the hope of resolving them as expeditiously and amicably as possible.”

The inclusion of the financial issues on the agenda came about at the request of the Gibraltar Government, though there is little detail publicly available at this stage as to what is envisioned.

At the Chamber dinner, however, Mr. Pons provided a clear hint of what the Spanish Government would like to see in the future.

He said Gibraltar should reflect on whether it was worth maintaining its current economic and fiscal model, given the negative impact it has on the Rock’s image and its relations with Spain.

Mr. Pons told the Chamber event that, in his own view, Gibraltar’s position outside of the European Customs Union was one that belonged to a past era, a time when the border was closed and Spain was a nondemocratic country.

And he said the Rock’s special fiscal and financial status “damages Gibraltar’s good name, and I don’t think it favours residents on the Rock if we really consider the benefits that the collective gains from these activities.”

“I know that it may be hard for you to accept, but a large part of the image problems that Gibraltar has in Spain comes from this exceptional status,” he said.

Such a status, he added, was more conducive to the evasion of taxation than the creation of wealth, and could damage long term prospects for a sustainable economic system.

“These are issues that at some point we will have to jointly resolve if we are to create confidence to overcome the divisions of the past,” Mr. Pons said.

“The more exceptional the regime in Gibraltar, the more difficult it will be to establish solid cooperation at a regional level, or with the Spanish economic system as a whole.”