Spain will vote against the divorce agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom unless Gibraltar’s future relationship with the bloc is considered a bilateral issue between Madrid and London, rather than between the EU and UK, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in Rabat that he had pitched the idea of a joint bid between his country, Portugal and Morocco to host the 2030 World Cup.
The Government has noted the comments about Gibraltar made by the Foreign Minister of Spain this morning following a meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union.
The Chief Minister has immediately been in touch with the Prime Minister’s office in Downing Street.
Spain has said it will not agree to the draft Brexit withdrawal deal without clarity over how talks on the future status of Gibraltar should be handled. Foreign minister Josep Borrell insisted that talks about the territory were “separate negotiations”.
The proposed Withdrawal Agreement published on Wednesday by the United Kingdom and European Union makes it clear that its terms, including the transitional period, will apply to Gibraltar. According to a release from the Gibraltar government “this was the number one priority of the Cabinet and of the Government and it has been achieved. It means that Gibraltar will not crash out of the European Union in March 2019 and that things will largely remain as they are until the end of 2020”.
Growing concern in Spain about the consequences of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, with or without a deal, and its impact on the country's strong fishing industry. The issue has been debated in Spain's congress.
A team of Spanish and Argentine paleontologists have discovered the remains of a dinosaur that lived 110 million years ago in the center of the country, the National University of La Matanza revealed last Friday.
Gibraltar will step up its contingency planning as from January 1, 2019, if there is no certainty of a Withdrawal Agreement and implementation period by that date, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told an influential House of Lords select committee. Addressing the EU Select Committee, he also signaled his hope that Gibraltar, the UK and Spain could salvage elements of the Gibraltar negotiations even in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit between the UK and the EU.
The British Government has appointed Hugh Elliott as its new Ambassador to Spain in succession of Simon Manley. According to a statement issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Mr Elliott will take up the role during the summer of 2019.
Activist Lorent Gomez Saleh has been freed and secretly transferred by Venezuelan authorities to the international airport of Maiquetía, one hour from Caracas, to be “referred” to Spain.