Spain: We’ll veto Brexit
Prime minister Pedro Sanchez threatens UK, saying its future relationship with the EU should not apply to Gibraltar
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister, has publicly warned he will “veto Brexit” over the issue of Gibraltar and warned tomorrow’s EU summit may be called off if no agreement is reached.
Spain says the future relationship to be negotiated between the EU and UK should not apply to Gibraltar and that it should only be decided bilaterally between itself and Britain. But Theresa May has rejected this idea and said the plan must apply to “the whole United Kingdom family” – a group that apparently includes the British Overseas Territory.
“After my conversation with Theresa May, our positions remain far away. My government will always defend the interests of Spain. If there are no changes, we will veto Brexit,” Mr Sanchez said. He later added: “If there is no deal, it’s obvious that what will happen is that the European Council will most likely not take place.”
The Spanish government does not have the power to veto the UK’s departure from the European Union, nor can it single-handedly block the withdrawal agreement. It can vote against the withdrawal agreement, but would require support from other countries to block it because the deal will be approved by a qualified majority voting at the European Council.
The one area where Spain can cause significant problems for the UK’s departure, however, is in the case of the future trade agreement – which Ms May says should be signed within the 21-month transition period that starts next March. Every national legislature and government in the EU would have to agree to such a trade deal.
There is plenty of precedent for this: in the past EU-wide deals have been blocked by entities including the parliament of Wallonia, a Belgian region.
The UK has held Gibraltar since 1704 and it was formally ceded as territory in a treaty in 1713. It is a selfgoverning British overseas territory.
The Gibraltar issue is controversial with the Spanish public, with successive governments benefiting politically by grandstanding on the matter. It became an official policy of the Spanish government to regain control of the rock during the dictatorship of General Franco, and it has been so ever since.
Polls and referendums have repeatedly shown Gibraltans are overwhelmingly in favour of staying tied to Britain.
The upsurge in interest in the Gibraltar issue could be down to the fact that the Spanish region of Andalusia has local elections scheduled for 2 December – just a week after the final Brexit summit.
Andalusia borders Gibraltar and includes the county of Camp de Gibraltar – or “countryside of Gibraltar”. About 10,000 Spanish people cross the border into the British overseas territory every day to work, so their livelihoods are connected to Brexit talks.