Tuesday, February 4, 2020 - 10:38 Leo Olivero

No sooner, are we over the national sadness of leaving the EU last Friday, sarcastically speaking! When as expected, the EU and Spain have wasted little time to cynically ramp up tension, to create another confrontational political setting over the Rock. Even before negotiations start between the UK, Gibraltar, Spain and the EU to discuss future trade talks and the Rocks future relations with Spain and the region.

Gibraltar is already awkwardly positioned between the possibility of a no deal Brexit scenario and the likelihood, that because of a short transition period until the 31 December where Boris Johnson is allowing only 11 months to wrap up hundreds of complicated trade negotiations. That is if talks actually get that far?

With the expected news, because it was expected. The EU announced that during the next and final phase of Brexit negotiations, it intends to back Spain over its sovereignty claim to Gibraltar, allowing Madrid to exclude Gibraltar from any UK trade deal struck with Brussels. This appears to be the plan!

Panorama reported as much yesterday, quoting the ‘Observer’ who received information from a senior EU diplomat that the Spanish government had insisted, the reference to Gibraltar to be made part of its opening negotiating position. The Spanish Government have asked, that the “new relationship with the UK should not apply to Gibraltar without the explicit consent of Spain, which will only be given if the bilateral talks with Madrid and the UK over the Rock are resolved,”

In response, a Foreign Office spokesman also said at the weekend: “The UK will not exclude Gibraltar from our negotiations in relation to our future relationship with the EU. “We will negotiate on behalf of the whole UK family, which includes Gibraltar.”