Foreign Affairs transfers its discomfort to the United Kingdom for the next visit to Gibraltar by the Earls of Wessex

MADRID, 26 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

According to diplomatic sources have confirmed to Europa Press.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation has been in charge of transferring this complaint, although the sources have not wanted to clarify whether it has been through a verbal note, as is usual in this type of case, or through the convocation of the British ambassador in Madrid, a gesture of a greater symbolic load.

"Spain considers that the visit is not opportune, within the framework of the negotiation process for a future EU-United Kingdom Agreement on Gibraltar and the bilateral agreements" between the two countries necessary for the application of said agreement which, once concluded, "It will define new relations between Gibraltar and the European Union", the sources have specified.

The complaint about the visit of the youngest son of Isabel II, Eduardo, and his wife to Gibraltar, advanced by the specialized media The Diplomat, is not unusual, although in this case the Government has taken time to make its discomfort palpable, since the News that the couple would visit the Rock broke on March 31.

Already in the past, the different Spanish governments have complained to the British authorities when there have been visits by members of the British royal family to Gibraltar. In 2012, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Elizabeth II, the Government of Mariano Rajoy also complained to London about the visit of the Counts of Wessex.

London and Brussels are currently negotiating an agreement that will regulate the Rock's relations with the bloc after Brexit on the basis of the memorandum sealed by the United Kingdom and Spain on December 31, 2020 and which contemplates the abolition of the Gate.

Although the text was initially expected to be closed by the end of 2021, the parties gave themselves until the first quarter of this year to close it, something that has not happened to date.

On May 13, the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, assured that the negotiations "are advancing at a good pace" and in fact "there are specific texts on the table". "We hope that the drafting will begin soon with concrete and legal solutions on the important points," he said.

Days later, the chief minister, Fabian Picardo, spoke in the same vein. "We are one step away from a historic agreement," he stressed. According to what he said, he is reaching "the point of being able to point out legally secure solutions on the different parts of each of the most important aspects." "I think we are now close to being able to start the consolidated drafting of the treaty in the next few weeks," he said.