Cameron close to agreeing deal with Spain over Brexit dispute
Britain and Spain are close to agreeing a deal over Gibraltar that would end a Brexit dispute over the UK’s only land border with continental Europe, the Spanish foreign minister said.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron has been in talks with his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, over a deal that has been on hold since Brexit came into force at the start of 2020.
Mr Albares told Spanish television channel Telecinco on Tuesday: “I would sign a deal with Britain over Gibraltar tomorrow.”
The minister said that both sides “agree that we have to move forward as soon as possible”.
“Spain has put an agreement on the table many months ago, a balanced and generous agreement and that is where we are going to go,” he added.
British diplomatic sources told i that Lord Cameron and Mr Albares were discussing the matter. It is believed that talks will take place at a Nato meeting that starts on Tuesday in Brussels.
Both countries have had 14 rounds of diplomatic talks over a deal, with hopes of securing a treaty guaranteeing free movement across the border by creating a common travel area.
The 38,000 inhabitants of the Rock, who voted by 96 per cent in favour of remaining part of Europe in the 2016 Brexit referendum, are keen for an agreement to be reached so they can move forwards.
The British Overseas Territory is linked to the Schengen Area by land and workers travel back and forth over the border, so its future is closely allied with the EU.
A deal has been held up over disagreements between Britain and Spain over the role of Spanish police on the Schengen border and Spanish ambitions to partly manage Gibraltar airport.
It is believed that these disagreements have been overcome, but the last sticking points are shrouded in secrecy.
“On a Rock three miles by one, the border is not just a key element of our economy, it’s a pressure valve too for a community,” Brian Reyes, editor of the Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper, wrote on Monday.
“Last week, a day after being sworn in as Foreign Minister after a hotly contested election in Spain, Mr Albares said all sides in the Gibraltar negotiations want to move forward quickly and that a deal was close.
“Let us hope that is the case because, seven years on [from the Brexit referendum], the Brexit levanter still hangs over our heads.”
Spain has traditionally claimed sovereignty over the Rock, which was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
