Former Spanish Foreign Minister says treaty deal is a missed opportunity for Spain to retain control

Former Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis has criticised the position on the Gibraltar EU Treaty, arguing that Spain has weakened its own position in the long-running sovereignty dispute.

In an interview with the regional daily newspaper Europa Sur, he says Madrid has effectively given up some of the leverage it gained during the Brexit process

Alfonso Dastis was once seen in the region as a breath of fresh air, a more progressive Foreign Minister and a diplomat who sought dialogue with Gibraltar after the dark days of Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo. Despite the overarching PP policy on the Rock, he pursued the  interests of the Campo and visited its Mayors to take their views on board.

But the final treaty terms are not to his liking. He now feels the influence Spain once had when it was required to approve any arrangements affecting Gibraltar has been lost.

Mr Dastis argues that, by allowing the deal to be framed as an agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom rather than Spain and the UK directly, Spain is no longer a formal contracting party. In his view, that means Madrid will have less control over how the agreement is developed in practice through later administrative and supplementary arrangements. He says Spain will still have a voice through the European Union, but not the same power to block or shape outcomes on its own.

He also says Spain has prioritised fluid movement across the border over other longstanding concerns. According to Mr Dastis, issues such as the environment, military use, money laundering and tobacco smuggling were either not properly addressed or not pushed far enough. He suggests that the agreement contains an implicit acceptance of British and Gibraltarian jurisdiction in areas Spain disputes under the Treaty of Utrecht, and says this amounts to a missed opportunity to press Spanish claims more firmly.

While he acknowledges that the deal aims to create shared prosperity, Mr Dastis says unless Spain follows up with serious public investment and economic measures on its own side of the border, the region could become even more dependent on Gibraltar.