Man Prevented From Bringing Nando's Sauce Into Spain Blames Brexit

A British expat who was prevented from bringing Nando's PERi-PERi sauce into Spain from Gibraltar has blamed Brexit. Watch him explain what happened here:

Joseph Lathey, who lives just across the border in La Línea de la Concepción, was told the sauce wasn't allowed across because it contained processed vegetables.

He was also told to bin his samosas, flatbreads and various spices.

The 27-year-old recalled: "I turned up at the border and there's a guard that's always on duty there, so I opened my bag, just as a courtesy really, just to show him that I didn't have anything.

"Normally they just take a glance and wave you through. But this time he casually started going through things and picking stuff up. He seemed a bit confused, which I was a bit taken aback by because that never happens.

"So then he asked me to step aside and he took me over to the guys who usually check the tobacco and the alcohol.

"They took my bag and they started going through it, and pulling everything out and reading the backs of labels.

"He just started pulling stuff out and said 'no, no, no, no... but you can have these two things,' and pulled out two bags of spice that I had and said 'that's the only things that you can keep'."

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This was pretty gutting for Joseph, as he was eagerly awaiting his first ever taste of the medium heat sauce.

He said: "I've not actually had Nando's PERi-PERi sauce before and I was really looking forward to trying it."

Fortunately, he was allowed to flog his £43 shop, rather than bin it, and a Gibraltar resident took it off him for £20.

Joseph believes the disruption was 'definitely' caused by Brexit, though he believed the new rules only prohibited meat and dairy.

He said: "The customs officer clearly didn't know any of these laws off by heart, he was having to reference the papers he had, and he seemed as confused by the legal jargon as I was."

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Newspaper Olive Press reports that Spanish legislation dictates that vegetables and vegetable-based products are prohibited from entering the peninsula, but a spokesperson for the Gibraltar government told the publication: "The Government's understanding is that EU law specifically exempts plant products intended for personal consumption from official controls on introduction to the EU.

"Therefore, the Government will be seeking to clarify this matter with the relevant Spanish authorities."

LADbible has contacted the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.

Topics: Food, UK News, Nando's, brexit, Spain

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey