By John Irish
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Spain’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that Madrid and London were close to an agreement to find a final solution to Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status.
Gibraltar’s status and how to police the border with Spain have been a point of contention since Britain voted in 2016 to leave the European Union. The peninsula was excluded from the exit agreement reached between the United Kingdom and the EU.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos that he sees “a constructive attitude” from the British side on the Gibraltar-related deal.
Spain, the United Kingdom and the European Union agreed on December 31, 2020, hours before the United Kingdom’s total exit from the block, that Gibraltar would continue to be part of the EU agreements, such as the Schengen area, and that Spain would monitor the port and airport, pending a lasting solution.
The European Commission and Spain sent the United Kingdom a proposal that includes keeping Gibraltar’s land border with Spain open at the end of 2022 and guaranteeing the free movement of people between Spain and the enclave.
Albares believes he is “very close to an agreement” and said that, despite the fact that nothing is definitive, in the meetings he has had with his British counterpart, James Cleverly, he sees that both want an agreement, without giving a timetable.
He added that, in his experience, with Brexit no calendar has ever been respected.
Spain ceded the rock at the mouth of the Mediterranean to Britain in 1713, but has long been demanding its return. In 2002, 99% of Gibraltar voters rejected the idea of the UK sharing sovereignty with Spain.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)
