TIME RUNNING OUT FOR AGREEMENT ON GIBRALTAR
Time is running out to find a Brexit agreement between Spain and Britain over Gibraltar, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said.
At stake in the talks is avoiding a hard European Union border in southern Spain after Britain completes its departure from the EU at the end of this year.
“Talks between Spain and the United Kingdom over Gibraltar continue, but there too time is running out,” Gonzalez Laya told radio station RNE. “We won’t stop until the last second, but we expect in this game the active participation of the United Kingdom.”
Spain ceded Gibraltar, a rocky enclave near its southernn tip, to Britain in 1713 after a war, but claims sovereignty over it. About 15,000 people commute daily from Spain to Gibraltar, which has a population of 32,000.
Spain has agreed to put the issue of its sovereignty claim to one side for now to focus on the opportunity to keep the border with Gibraltar open.