Brexit and Gibraltar: Spain's foreign minister meets negotiators

Alfonso Dastis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, has confirmed that Spain will not use any disagreement over Gibraltar to block the UK's exit from the EU and emphasised that any discussion over the sovereignty of 'The Rock' would be a bilateral one between the two countries.

The Minister was responding to questions regarding a veto by Spain over Gibraltar and its potential to affect the Brexit negotiations that began in Brussels on Monday.

"I don't think so," he said, "this doesn't just depend on us, it depends on the United Kingdom, most of all, if we are to reach an agreement."

"The most important thing," he continued, "and we hope the UK understands this in the same way, is that there is a constructive relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union."

Dastis highlighted the fact that Spain has requested that all future negotiations relating to Gibraltar be a matter for Spain and the UK only, once the framework of the UK's new relationship with the EU has been determined.

"The Gibraltar question," he said, "does not have to be the first or the most important item in this new framework," adding that initially this framework has to be established and then within it, "we will have to see how Gibraltar fits in."

When asked whether the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, would be authorised to talk about Gibraltar with his British counterparts as part of the negotiating mandate afforded to him by the remaining 27 countries, the Spanish minister replied that it was "not a question of authorisation" and that "the guidelines are what they are, and we are not going to be nitpicking the instructions on a day-to-day basis".

Dastis also held a cordial courtesy meeting today with David Davis, the UK's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.