Spain threatens to veto withdrawal deal as ministers clash over Gibraltar

SPAIN yesterday ramped up threats to derail the Brexit deal after demanding changes on the future of Gibraltar.

It came ahead of a special summit on Sunday, when EU leaders will be asked to sign off the withdrawal document.

Spain’s EU minister Marco Aguiriano repeated threats that it will veto the deal over a five-line passage in the 585-page agreement on a future trading relationship between the EU and UK applying to the British territory.

The Spanish government is calling for extra text to spell out explicitly that any post-Brexit trade deal would not automatically apply to Gibraltar. However, other EU member states rounded on the 11th-hour demands – ‘losing their patience’, according to insiders – for fear that reopening talks on the text would lead to an avalanche of demands and scupper the fragile consensus reached.

Madrid has a long-standing claim on Gibraltar, which was ceded to the British crown in the 1 13 Treaty of Utrecht. Speaking in the Spanish parliament, Aguiriano suggested negotiations could be paused and even warned that Madrid could force another summit to be called in December.

Theresa May yesterday said she has already spoken to Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez. She added: ‘I am confident that on Sunday we will be able to agree a deal that delivers for the whole UK family, including Gibraltar.’

During a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels yesterday, Spain’s ambassador once again pressed how ‘unhappy’ the government in Madrid was.

But around 14 EU member states are said to have objected to this and made clear that reopening negotiations on the text of the withdrawal agreement is a red line.

It is believed that ‘several options’ over Gibraltar are being discussed.

One diplomat said: ‘It’s the case that everybody is annoyed.’