Spain drops plan to impose veto if Scotland tries to join EU

Spain has said it would not veto an attempt by an independent Scotland to join the EU, in a boost to Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for a second independence referendum and the clearest sign yet that Brexit has softened Madrid’s longstanding opposition.

Alfonso Dastis, the Spanish foreign minister, made it clear that the government would not block an independent Scotland’s EU hopes, although he stressed that Madrid would not welcome the disintegration of the UK.

He also said Edinburgh would have to apply for membership, a process fraught with uncertainty that is likely to take several years. But asked directly whether Spain would veto an independent Scotland joining the EU, Dastis said: “No, we wouldn’t.”

Madrid is keen not to fuel Catalonia’s desire for independence. “We don’t want it [Scottish independence] to happen,” he said. “But if it happens legally and constitutionally, we would not block it. We don’t encourage the breakup of any member states, because we think the future goes in a different direction.”

The change in tone could prove a significant boon to Scotland’s first minister, who has repeatedly demanded the right from Westminster to hold a second independence referendum before Brexit. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU during the referendum last year, but it has been believed Spain would block it from rejoining if independent from the UK.

The softening stance this weekend reflects the new approach being taken by Dastis, a career diplomat, who was promoted to foreign minister last November after the centreright prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, formed a government following 300 days of political paralysis in 2016.

In the run-up to Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum, Rajoy said Scottish independence would be a catastrophe that would risk Europe’s disintegration, but the political calculus in Madrid and Brussels has shifted since Britain voted to leave the EU.

EU leaders are more sympathetic to Scotland, where 62% voted to remain in the EU, while insisting that Scots cannot inherit Britain’s EU membership. The European commission spelled out earlier this month that an independent Scotland would have to apply to join the bloc, a point reinforced by Dastis. “They would have to join the line of candidates at some point and would have to start negotiations,” he said. Scotland would have no chance of winning the perks enjoyed by the UK, such as the rebate on EU payments. Current EU law also requires new joiners to sign up to the euro, an issue that would pose fundamental problems for Scotland’s trade with the rest of the UK. Experts have suggested negotiations could take three to four years, but the timing is uncertain.