Spain will vote against the Brexit agreement if the text on Gibraltar is not changed

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain will vote Sunday against the draft agreement on the Brexit of the European Union, unless it is amended to clarify that the future of the territory British dispute is based on negotiations between Madrid and London, said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Spain's demands in Gibraltar are the latest attempt by EU states to obtain more information on national interests before Sunday's summit of EU leaders, but diplomats said there is had little concern that this steals the prospects of an agreement.

"From today, if there is no change from Gibraltar, Spain will vote against the Brexit agreement", Sanchez said at a conference in Madrid on Tuesday.

According to EU rules, the withdrawal treaty is adopted by a qualified majority and not unanimously. A single state like Spain can not block it. The EU executive said it is aware of Spain's concerns and expects the problem to be solved.

Small peninsula of the south coast of Spain and British territory since 1713, Gibraltar is a major point of contention in the Anglo-Spanish relations. Spain has long claimed its sovereignty.

Gibraltar must leave the European Union with the UK in March, although 96% of its population voted in the 2016 referendum to stay in the bloc.

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While last week's Spain had initially hosted a protocol on Gibraltar in the Brexit draft agreement, Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said on Monday that confusion prevailed over Gibraltar in the body of the country. agreement.

This had to be clarified in the broader policy statement on new relations between the EU and the UK, Borrell said. Sanchez reinforced this message on Tuesday.

"If Sunday in the @ CESON Council, the agreement on Brexit does not recognize that the situation of Gibraltar must be negotiated directly between Spain and the United Kingdom, this government will not accept it," said Sanchez on Twitter.

"If this government, which is a pro-European government, is in this situation, it means that someone in Brussels has not done a good job," he said, adding that that Spain had proposed various drafting options to Great Britain and Canada. The EU negotiator, Michel Barnier.

In Brussels, EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the block had agreed last year that "after the departure of the United Kingdom, no agreement between the EU and the EU will be reached. EU and the United Kingdom can not apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom ".

Diplomats in Brussels hoped the issue would be resolved by adding more terms in the withdrawal agreement and the statement on relations between the EU and Britain after Brexit from here to Sunday when they will have to be approved by the European leaders.

Gibraltar is at the Andalusian border on December 2, where regional elections are essential to Sanchez's socialist party as well as to its main opponents. Many thousands of Spaniards cross the border every day to find a job in the territory.

The head of the government of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, issued Monday a statement in which he regretted the Spanish position.

"It is not surprising that Madrid is seeking at the last minute to raise new questions about Gibraltar in our negotiations for the exit of the EU. The issue raised at the eleventh hour is a well known tactic that has been used by Spain in the past while it was within the EU, "Picardo said.