Spain ‘surprised’ at UK commentary over Gibraltar - Financial Times

Spain ‘surprised’ at UK commentary over Gibraltar

Spanish foreign minister plays down tensions generated by Brexit guidelines

https://www.ft.com/content/fe4b7478-184f-11e7-a53d-df09f373be87

Spanish foreign minister Alfonso Dastis has said his government is “surprised” at the tone of commentary in the UK over Gibraltar, after a weekend in which former Tory leader Michael Howard suggested Britain could go to war to defend the territory.

“I think that someone in the UK is losing their temper and there’s no reason for that,” said Mr Dastis, as he sought to play down the tensions generated by a condition in the European Council’s draft negotiating guidelines on Brexit.

The condition in effect gives Spain a veto on any future UK-EU trade deal that affects Gibraltar, which has been in British hands for 300 years.

“We are a little surprised at the tone this has generated in the UK, a country characterised historically for its composure,” Mr Dastis said at the opening ceremony of an economic forum in Madrid. “In this case, the traditional British composure has been notable for its absence.”

On Sunday, Gibraltar chief minister Fabian Picardo told the Financial Times that Spain’s use of the territory as a bargaining chip was “scandalous” and noted that 12,000 workers, mostly Spanish, cross the border every day. “This is why it is in everyone’s interest that there should be a sensible, orderly and well managed Brexit between Spain and Gibraltar,” he said.

Mr Dastis seemed to make a nod towards these workers in his comments on Monday. “We are not in favour of raising tariffs or making the relationship more difficult with the UK and the citizens of Gibraltar,” he said, adding that Spain’s goal was to defend the interests of its citizens who live near, and work in, the territory.

The foreign minister also repeated the Spanish view, made explicit over the weekend, that Spain did not want to see Scotland secede from the UK but would not necessarily veto a Scottish application for EU membership if it did pursue independence.

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“Our position is clear. When the UK leaves the EU, it leaves in its entirety. Our desire is that outside of the EU it remains whole. Spain does not defend fragmentation or secession,” Mr Dastis said. “More than that, I won’t speculate about possibilities.”

In an interview published by Spain’s El País newspaper on Sunday, Mr Dastis said he did “not foresee that we would block” a Scottish membership application.

Some Scottish opponents of independence have long suggested that Spain would veto EU membership for Scotland, worried about setting a precedent for Catalonia, the Spanish region with a sizeable constituency in favour of independence.

But Mr Dastis said the case was “not comparable” with Catalonia, citing constitutional differences between the UK and Spain.

Referring to the comments, Scottish Nationalist party MP Stephen Gethins said: “We can now be absolutely clear: there is no intention of a Spanish veto over Scotland’s EU membership.”

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