(Gibraltar)
Spanish Foreign ministry has communicated to the Mayors in the zone its wish to maintain the status for the 10,000 workers who cross the Gibraltarian frontier every day for work.
Dec 21, 2017 - 12:54 PM
Spain wants to start talks with London as soon as possible.
Spanish Foreign ministry has communicated to the Mayors in the zone its wish to maintain the status for the 10,000 workers who cross the Gibraltarian frontier every day for work.
Dec 21, 2017 - 12:54 PM
However, this has to be done in the most discrete and gentle as possible to not upset the lives of the people in the localities surrounding Gibraltar. Talks can start at a ministerial level without implicating Theresa May and Mariano Rajoy at the start of 2018 with the idea of moving forward to the solution of concrete problems before the United Kingdom leaves the EU on 29 March 2019.
Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, ratified for the Spanish mayors in the zone of the wish of the Spanish Cabinet to maintain the status quo for the neighbours, especially to keep the status of the frontier unchanged allowing free movement of workers.
The minister considers it logical and normal that the Spanish Government wants to advance bilateral conversations on all the aspects which Brexit would suppose for the surroundings of Gibraltar, around the same time when the length of the transition time will be confirmed by Brussels and ahead of the set divorce date of 29 March 2019. Hopefully by then the main matters have been resolved without prejudicing any side locally.
This was the philosophy which emerged after the meeting with minister Dastis in Madrid with the seven mayors inside the Metropolitan Area of Gibraltar Bay, Algeciras, La Linea, Tarifa, Castellar, Jimena, Los Barrios and San Roque. Also in attendance was the Government delegate for Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, and president of the United Community of Municipalities in the Area of Gibraltar, Luis Ángel Fernández.
The mayor of La Linea, Juan Franco, responsible for the most affected municipality over what happens around Gibraltar, advanced for his part these ministerial conversations could impulse from January his assertion of his own priority for the area under Town Hall, and with the hope that the border remains the same for the 10,000 workers who use it every day.
Franco also lamented the local consequences of Brexit as his area is curiously one of the poorest in Spain with 34% of his population out of work.
After the yes result in the Brexit referendum, he noted a drop in consumer spending, caused in part by the weaker pound against the euro, given that the Spanish workers on the rock get paid in Sterling and spend in euros. Some 20 shops in La Linea in an attempt to help the locals are now accepting cash in pounds, and this has generated a 6% growth in spending.
Using local research, Juan Franco, established that those who get paid in Gibraltar bring into Spain 97.5 million € in wages annually. Since the referendum, the pound has fallen by 16% against the euro according to La Linea Association for Small and Medium businesses equating to a loss of 15.6 million € from the devaluation of the British money a year or 1.3 million € a month.
Minister Dastis wanted to be less concrete and more diplomatic. Aware of the political situation of Theresa May inside her own Government and in consequence across Britain reaching a final agreement would be more difficult and expensive. Dastis wants to keep his head down to avoid any unnecessary conflicts, regarding some British Media have been reporting the EU is putting pressure on the United Kingdom to reach an agreement in Madrid over Gibraltar as soon as possible and ahead of the transitory period.
Dastis told the press regarding the landscape surrounding the problem such direct talks between London and Madrid over Gibraltar is ‘not easy or clear’ admitting the existence of ‘constructive progress and a decided will’ by both sides to find useful results for all the citizens and companies affected.
The Right of Spain to veto any post-Brexit agreement regarding Gibraltar is reflected in the negotiation directives agreed by the EU on 27 April 2017, according to Michel Barnier – ‘We all know the conditions of the withdrawal, and we are going to precisely refer to paragraph 24 of the April directives which evokes the situation of Gibraltar’ remarked Barnier in Brussels regarding the second phase of negotiations.
But for the future of Brexit and its consequences remains unclear, firstly regarding the duration of the transition time which the EU wants to end in December 2020, and secondly regarding Gibraltar.
Alfonso Dastis
|
Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, ratified for the Spanish mayors in the zone of the wish of the Spanish Cabinet to maintain the status quo for the neighbours, especially to keep the status of the frontier unchanged allowing free movement of workers.
The minister considers it logical and normal that the Spanish Government wants to advance bilateral conversations on all the aspects which Brexit would suppose for the surroundings of Gibraltar, around the same time when the length of the transition time will be confirmed by Brussels and ahead of the set divorce date of 29 March 2019. Hopefully by then the main matters have been resolved without prejudicing any side locally.
This was the philosophy which emerged after the meeting with minister Dastis in Madrid with the seven mayors inside the Metropolitan Area of Gibraltar Bay, Algeciras, La Linea, Tarifa, Castellar, Jimena, Los Barrios and San Roque. Also in attendance was the Government delegate for Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, and president of the United Community of Municipalities in the Area of Gibraltar, Luis Ángel Fernández.
The mayor of La Linea, Juan Franco, responsible for the most affected municipality over what happens around Gibraltar, advanced for his part these ministerial conversations could impulse from January his assertion of his own priority for the area under Town Hall, and with the hope that the border remains the same for the 10,000 workers who use it every day.
Franco also lamented the local consequences of Brexit as his area is curiously one of the poorest in Spain with 34% of his population out of work.
After the yes result in the Brexit referendum, he noted a drop in consumer spending, caused in part by the weaker pound against the euro, given that the Spanish workers on the rock get paid in Sterling and spend in euros. Some 20 shops in La Linea in an attempt to help the locals are now accepting cash in pounds, and this has generated a 6% growth in spending.
Using local research, Juan Franco, established that those who get paid in Gibraltar bring into Spain 97.5 million € in wages annually. Since the referendum, the pound has fallen by 16% against the euro according to La Linea Association for Small and Medium businesses equating to a loss of 15.6 million € from the devaluation of the British money a year or 1.3 million € a month.
Minister Dastis wanted to be less concrete and more diplomatic. Aware of the political situation of Theresa May inside her own Government and in consequence across Britain reaching a final agreement would be more difficult and expensive. Dastis wants to keep his head down to avoid any unnecessary conflicts, regarding some British Media have been reporting the EU is putting pressure on the United Kingdom to reach an agreement in Madrid over Gibraltar as soon as possible and ahead of the transitory period.
Dastis told the press regarding the landscape surrounding the problem such direct talks between London and Madrid over Gibraltar is ‘not easy or clear’ admitting the existence of ‘constructive progress and a decided will’ by both sides to find useful results for all the citizens and companies affected.
The Right of Spain to veto any post-Brexit agreement regarding Gibraltar is reflected in the negotiation directives agreed by the EU on 27 April 2017, according to Michel Barnier – ‘We all know the conditions of the withdrawal, and we are going to precisely refer to paragraph 24 of the April directives which evokes the situation of Gibraltar’ remarked Barnier in Brussels regarding the second phase of negotiations.
But for the future of Brexit and its consequences remains unclear, firstly regarding the duration of the transition time which the EU wants to end in December 2020, and secondly regarding Gibraltar.
Comment Form is loading comments...