Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares held his first bilateral meeting in London on Monday, November 10, with his UK counterpart, Yvette Cooper, to discuss “the new phase for Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar.”
“Spain and the United Kingdom are strengthening our bilateral relations following the signing of the Bilateral Strategic Framework,” Albares wrote on social media. “In London, with my counterpart Yvette Cooper, we discussed the opportunities for our citizens and the new phase for Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar,” he continued. “We agreed to further deepen our cooperation. We also agreed to work together on support for Ukraine, European security, and peace in Gaza and the Middle East,” he added.
Yvette Cooper assumed office on September 5, replacing fellow Labour minister David Lammy. Five days later, Albares had his first telephone conversation with her, in which they both agreed to “work together to continue strengthening cooperation between Spain and the United Kingdom.”
That conversation took place just a week after the meeting in London between the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, whom he congratulated for having “successfully concluded a fundamental agreement between Spain, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission regarding Gibraltar.”
At that meeting, both leaders signed a new Bilateral Strategic Framework that strengthens ties between the two countries and deepens collaboration and cooperation on a wide range of issues, structured into seven sections: sustainable growth, foreign and development policy, relations between both societies, climate and energy policy, European security and defense, judicial cooperation and migration, and transport.
On June 11, Albares, Lammy, and European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič reached “a definitive political agreement on the fundamental aspects of the future Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom concerning Gibraltar” in Brussels.
The agreement, which should be formalized in a treaty that is still being negotiated, safeguards the respective legal positions of Spain and the United Kingdom regarding sovereignty and jurisdiction,” according to the joint declaration. It guarantees the free movement of people by eliminating borders and controls between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar region and establishes that the Spanish National Police will be responsible, on behalf of the European Union, for carrying out full Schengen controls at Gibraltar’s port and airport.
Yvette Cooper posted a message on social media on September 10th, stating that “Gibraltar is a cherished part of the British family” and conveying to Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, her desire to realize their “shared objective of agreeing and implementing the Treaty as soon as possible.”