Spanish royals on state visit to Britain

SPAIN’S King Felipe and Queen Letizia began a pomp-laden state visit to Britain yesterday to cement ties that have been strained by questions over the post-Brexit future of Gibraltar, a British territory on the southern tip of Spain.

The Spanish royals will stay at Buckingham Palace during a visit that was twice postponed – once because of a political crisis in Spain in 2016 and then after it clashed with an early election Prime Minister Theresa May called in June.

Agreed before Britain voted to leave the EU in June last year, the threeday Spanish state visit, the first in 31 years, now takes place just months after a long-running row over Gibraltar, the “Rock” captured by Britain in 1704 which Spain wants back, flared up again.

The EU and Britain have yet to agree on guarantees for EU citizens living in Britain and British expatriates living in EU countries. More than 300 000 Britons live in Spain.

The Spanish royals enjoyed a private lunch at Buckingham Palace yesterday with Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, and later afternoon tea at the Prince of Wales’ London residence Clarence House as well as a state banquet.

Felipe, who used a speech to the United Nations to invite Britain “to end the colonial anachronism of Gibraltar” also addressed parliament yesterday and will meet May at her Downing Street office today.

The future of Gibraltar is set to be a major point of contention in the Brexit talks. — Reuters