Spain veto threatens £52 holiday visa

SPAIN is threatening to block EU plans to allow Britons to travel to Europe without visas after Brexit in a row over Gibraltar.

It means UK citizens might have to pay £52 for a visa to go on holiday after March 29 – when Britain is due to leave the EU – if the row is not resolved.

Brussels had drawn up legislation letting tourists continue to travel visa-free in the event of a No Deal Brexit.

However, Euro-MPs yesterday refused to accept wording in the legislation which described Gibraltar as a ‘colony’ of Britain – phrasing which Spain requested.

European Council officials, backed by Madrid, insist the description must remain, but MEPs are calling for its removal.

Czech liberal MEP Petr Jezek, who sits on a European Parliament committee involved in the talks, said: ‘Member states are playing with fire. We’re talking about the shortterm travel of UK citizens to the EU, and vice-versa, which everyone agrees on.

‘But the member states [at the European Council] won’t sign off on it until the European Parliament accepts describing Gibraltar as a “colony”. The Council is holding half a billion citizens to ransom on this folly.’ He added: ‘Using language like ‘colony’ has no place in the EU in 2019. It seems outdated to bring this kind of language into it and it is not related.

‘What kind of signal would it send if the UK leaves and on Day 1 the EU will apply visas? It would also not be good for tourism.’ He claimed that when the European Parliament initially voted on the proposal, the Gibraltar wording was not present and it was inserted later at Spain’s request.

Downing Street previously branded the colony phrase ‘completely unacceptable’. EU talks on the issue are due to resume next week. The Rock, which has a naval base, military garrison and 33,000 residents, was given to Britain by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.