President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezand the British Prime Minister, Mr. Keir Starmerseeing a deal for Gibraltar very close, which is one of the pending issues between the two since Britain left the European Union (EU) after Brexit.Diplomatic authorities explained that resolving this issue was crucial to advancing other issues, given that almost all official dialogue between the two countries revolves around related issues.

President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezand the British Prime Minister, Mr. Keir Starmerseeing a deal for Gibraltar very close, which is one of the pending issues between the two since Britain left the European Union (EU) after Brexit.Diplomatic officials explained that resolving this issue was critical to moving forward on other issues, given that almost all official dialogue between the two countries revolves around the future of relations between the two countries. british colony.

The two leaders held a half-hour meeting during the meeting. European Political Community summit (CPE) held today at Woodstock (OxfordUnited Kingdom), which brings together 47 heads of government and state from the continent.

According to Spanish government sources, Sánchez and Starmer believe that there is now a possibility of reaching a deal on Gibraltar, which, by contrast, has had only a few issues pending for more than a year, when Sánchez himself called elections in July 2023. There is no commitment on the date.

One sticking point for the deal is Gibraltar’s airport, with two points of dissonance: movement of people and technical operation of infrastructure. Both countries are seeking a neutral understanding that does not mean surrendering sovereignty.

Downing Street has expressed its “hope” that harmony between Madrid and London will facilitate “a mutually satisfactory agreement.”

Spain wants to take advantage of what it considers good relations between the two countries –apart from the fact that both heads of government came from socialist families–, as a basis for supporting the British proposal for restart the deal with the EUwithout going into more detail about what it should look like. reset.

Frequent dialogue

At the bilateral level, Spain and the UK will seek to establish a structured dialogue, namely a system frequent meetings (e.g., annually or biennially), as is the case in other countries such as Morocco, France, Italy, Romania, Algeria or Poland. Starmer and Sánchez see the need to promote reciprocity, given the importance of aspects such as the large mobility of people between the two countries and the volume of travel. commercial exchange.

Previously, Sánchez had met with the Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelenskywho thanked him for his support at the last Washington summit, which provided the country with financial certainty to continue the fight against Russia, and for the initiative to achieve peace in the conflict that Zelensky himself promoted.