Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

DAVOS 2023: Spain says 'very close to deal' with Britain on Gibraltar

Published 01/17/2023, 01:14 PM
Updated 01/17/2023, 01:22 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares attends a news conference during the 7th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona, Spain November 24, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares attends a news conference during the 7th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona, Spain November 24, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

By John Irish

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Spain's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Madrid and London were closing in on a deal to find a definitive solution settling the post-Brexit status of Gibraltar.

The status of Gibraltar and how to police the border with Spain has been a point of contention since Britain's 2016 vote to leave the European Union. The peninsula was excluded from the exit deal reached between Britain and the EU.

"I see a constructive spirit from the British side on the agreement related to Gibraltar," Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Spain, Britain and the European Union agreed on Dec. 31, 2020, hours before Britain's full exit from the bloc, that Gibraltar would remain part of EU agreements such as the Schengen Area and Spain would police the port and the airport, pending a lasting solution.

The European Commission and Spain sent Britain a proposal including keep Gibraltar's land border to Spain open in late 2022 and ensuring free flow of people between Spain and the enclave.

"I think we are very close to the deal. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, but from the meetings I had with (British Foreign Secretary) James Cleverly I see that we both want the agreement and are really working on it," Albares said, without giving a timeframe.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares attends a news conference during the 7th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona, Spain November 24, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

"My experience with Brexit is that any timetable has never been respected," he said.

Spain ceded the rocky outpost at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea to Britain in 1713 but has long called for it to be returned. In 2002, 99% of voters in Gibraltar rejected the idea of Britain sharing sovereignty with Spain.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.