Spain’s prime minister said he fully intends to veto the Brexit deal if no agreement on Gibraltar can be found. And he warned that if there’s no agreement, the European Council on Sunday “will most likely not take place.” POLITICO
Why is Gibraltar important?
Euronews:
Miguel Ángel Benedicto Solsona, a professor of international relations at the European University, tells Euronews what issues in Gibraltar Spain wants a say in.
“Spain wants to solve issues related to Gibralter serving as a tax haven. Thousands of companies have been established on the overseas territory, many of which carry out their activity on the other side of the Spanish border, he explained.
“There are more than 10,000 workers who cross the border from the Campo de Gibraltar to work on Gibraltar each day, Solsona said. The Campo de Gibraltar area has one of the highest unemployment rates in Spain. After Brexit “let’s see what happens with the rights of these workers … who will pay their pensions, what will happen to them?” Solsona asked.
The Strait of Gibraltar is a short distance from Morocco, and since the 1990s, tobacco smuggling there has increased dramatically. According to figures from Diario de Cádiz, 26% of Gibraltar’s budget “comes from the importation of 72 million packs [of tobacco] per year”, which is equivalent to €180 million. “There is a lot of illegal smuggling of tobacco between Gibraltar and Spain and Spain is interested in this ending somehow,” Solsona explained.
Another problem Spain has an interest in is the environment. “The polluting spill that Gibraltar sometimes sends to the Mediterranean… harms the Spanish Mediterranean coast.”
Spain would also like a deal to include the joint management of Gibraltar’s airport. However, Solsona said it would be difficult for the British government to give any authority to police or the Spanish Civil Guard in supervising passengers in this transit zone. Solsona said he hopes that Spain and the UK will agree on a special protocol for Gibraltar, taking inspiration from the border with Northern Ireland or the British bases in Cyprus.
Madrid wants guarantees that it alone can decide on the future of Gibraltar in direct talks with Britain.
However, crafting the tentative Brexit deal has taken a year and a half of difficult talks. EU states are determined not to set a precedent for Britain or other states making more requests to modify the text.
Al Jazeera:
British Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament that the UK would not agree to exclude Gibraltar from negotiations on the future relationship with the EU. “We want a deal that works for the whole UK family, and that includes Gibraltar,” she said.
According to Reuters, diplomats in Brussels are also presenting a united front, saying they thought Sanchez was trying to score points with voters before a high-stakes regional election in Andalusia, which borders Gibraltar, on December 2.
The diplomats said the issue could be solved by Sanchez and May and urged Madrid not to put the whole Brexit deal at risk.
