The Government has complained to Spanish counterparts after traffic was "deliberately" held up for up to six hours at the border with Gibraltar.
Images showed long queues at the border into the mainland from Gibraltar, which Spain claims as its own sovereign territory.
Authorities searched "practically every vehicle", triggering the tailbacks and affecting thousands of people who commute to and from Gibraltar for work.
A statement from the government of Gibraltar said: "It is disgraceful that EU nationals have been made to wait for nearly six hours to cross the border from Gibraltar to Spain.
"The Spanish Government has inflicted these unnecessary delays on the elderly, children and the infirm in up to 30 degrees of heat.
"This torture has resulted in an ambulance being deployed to treat people with medical conditions.
"The irony is that most of the victims are Spanish nationals in Spanish registered vehicles."
Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke to the Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo on Sunday to express "serious concerns".
Britain's Ambassador in Madrid also raised concerns with the Spanish Deputy Foreign Minister and a protest was registered with the Spanish Ambassador in London.
A spokesman from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said: "Our main concern is to restore people's basic right to freedom of movement and enable a return to normal operations at the border.
"A speedy solution is essential to address the very difficult situation there and consequent humanitarian issues."
Spain disputes UK sovereignty over Gibraltar, an outcrop on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula which has been ruled by Britain since 1713.
People in Gibraltar have rejected Spanish sovereignty in two referendums - in 1967 and 2002 - and for the last seven years have governed most of their own affairs apart from defence and foreign relations.
It comes after Spanish police fired plastic or rubber bullets at a British jetskier off Gibraltar last month.
Dale Villa, 32, said he was left "shaken" after a Spanish police patrol boat fired shots at his jetski and chased him through Gibraltar's territorial waters.
Earlier this week, Guardia Civil vessels entered Gibraltar territorial waters as contractors attempted to create an artificial reef in the sea.
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