The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, yesterday reiterated his confidence that the negotiations on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the European Union “can be concluded as soon as possible”.
Although it is taken for granted in diplomatic circles that any possible agreement will have to wait for the elections to be held in Spain on 23 July, Albares insisted that, last December, he put on the table “a global agreement that covered all the necessary aspects for there to be an area of shared prosperity between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar”.
The minister added that, since then, the Spanish government has been waiting for the UK to say “whether it is in favour of this agreement or not”.
Albares, who was in Córdoba yesterday, told journalists that “the UK’s spirit has so far been constructive”.
London and Brussels have already held a total of 13 rounds of negotiations, the last of which took place at the end of April, and according to the minister, there are currently no further meetings scheduled.
The early elections in Spain have paralysed the negotiating process, something that has caused great concern, especially among the Gibraltarians, who fear that a change of government in our country that would bring the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, to La Moncloa, could harden Spain’s positions.
