Gibraltar ‘very close’ to deal over post-Brexit status

The UK left the European Union in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar –  historically an important military base for Britain due to its position at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea – and the bloc unresolved.

Four-way talks between London, Madrid, Brussels and Gibraltar on a deal to ensure people and goods can keep flowing easily over the Gibraltar-Spain border have since made halting progress during several rounds of negotiations, but officials have recently expressed optimism about reaching a deal.

READ MORE: Gibraltar’s Brexit talks stalled by Spain’s focus on Rock’s airport

“We are very close. I believe that we are about to reach the point of no return,” Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said during a meeting with the foreign media in Madrid.

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“My feeling is that we are almost there, that we are arriving. That we have found imaginative solutions to all the issues that we had left. And it’s a question of tying that up, and then being able to say, here we go.”

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Monday that negotiations were edging closer to an agreement.

READ ALSO: Gibraltar’s long-awaited Brexit deal could include unforeseen EU rules

“We are now simply dealing with very operational aspects that we need to align on, and I am sure we will reach an agreement, which is something Spain certainly wants,” he said.

The tiny territory on Spain’s southern tip depends greatly on access to the EU market for its 34,000 inhabitants.

In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96 percent of voters in Gibraltar supported remaining in the EU.

Britain and Spain have disputed control of the territory since it was ceded to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

With the protocol on Northern Ireland agreed by London and Brussels in 2023, Gibraltar is now the last British territory without a deal clarifying its future relationship with the EU.

IN DEPTH: Should Gibraltar be British or Spanish?