Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Spain Seeks Emergency Brexit Deal with Gibraltar before Next Year


Tue 27 Oct 2020 | 11:08 PM
Ahmed Moamar

 

Spain is seeking a last-minute Brexit deal with Gibraltar in order to halt any disruption at the start of next year.

The Spanish government is working urgently to agree to a deal with Gibraltar in order to prevent the disruption for workers who cross into the territory for work.

If no deal is reached, there could be a serious disruption to the 15,000 people who cross the border to work in Gibraltar every day.

Negotiators on both sides are hoping a deal can be reached by mid-November before three-way talks between Spain, Gibraltar, and the UK.

Any overarching deal with the EU will not include Gibraltar, meaning Spain and the UK must agree on a treaty separately.

However, any decision from the Spanish government to move the British Overseas Territory into alignment may once again flare up tensions over Gibraltar’s sovereignty.

Arancha Gonzalez, Spain’s foreign minister told the Financial Times: “On the Spanish side, we will leave no stone unturned to get to a deal., according to the Express, a UK daily newspaper.

She warns that if the two sides don’t reach this agreement, the border of Europe will be Gibraltar, with all the consequences that this has, but if we invest in a deal, we can create this space of shared prosperity that we have been talking about for a while.

“On the big sovereignty issue, we know where things stand — we will not renounce sovereignty, nor will the UK — but, below that.

She pointed out that on the things that matter for everyday life, we know that we can make it smoother.

Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo said: “It is becoming a tighter and tighter timetable and we need to step up a gear.

“We are ready to deliver a deal so long as it is sovereignty neutral and positive for all sides.”

Commenting on the deal, a spokesperson for the UK Government claimed ministers are working hard to find a solution.

The spokesperson also insisted talks will fulfill the wellbeing of the territory.

Gibraltar has been classed a British Overseas Territory since 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht.