"Spain has reached an agreement on Gibraltar. Europe and the United Kingdom have accepted our demands", says Pedro Sánchez

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

Good afternoon, I have just announced to the Head of State - the King - that Spain has reached an agreement on Gibraltar. The first thing I wish to say is that the European Council, consequently, will meet on Sunday, and the second is that Europe and the United Kingdom have accepted the demands set by Spain and hence, Spain will lift the veto and vote in favour of Brexit on Sunday.

Before explaining the content of this solution, I wanted to share the reasons why the Government of Spain has opposed Brexit in recent days. The question of Gibraltar is key for Spain, for territorial integrity, for national sovereignty; these are elements present in the identity of our country, which is why we defend our national interests and have been firm and decisive in the defence of general interests.

Gibraltar is not only a territory to be decolonised, as recognised by international law and the United Nations, but also since Spain joined the European Economic Community back in 1986, Gibraltar has enjoyed very significant European growth, which has led to it being among the leading economies per capita in the world. This is due to a series of aspects, firstly to an exceptional regime under British law, given that it belongs to the United Kingdom, and secondly to access to the internal market of the European Union. This has had negative consequences on the surrounding region, on Campo de Gibraltar. Those who have visited the region can perfectly well see the enormous differences between Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar itself. And for the government, the prosperity and progress of Campo de Gibraltar is also a State affair, as well as one of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We clearly aspire to a fruitful future relationship with the people of Gibraltar, a close and ambitious relationship that fosters the balanced development, I stress "balanced", of Gibraltar and of Campo de Gibraltar, and consequently joint prosperity.

The third announcement I want to make is that once the United Kingdom finally withdraws from the European Union, the political, legal and even geographic relationship between Gibraltar and the European Union will be passed over to Spain.

Hence, the national interest is the joint prosperity of Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar and Spain as a fundamental pillar of what the future relationship will be with the rest of the European Union.

I will now move on to set out the guarantees that Spain demanded and that we have achieved in these tough but fruitful negotiations. Firstly, and for the first time ever, we have achieved a joint declaration from the European Council and the European Commission within the framework of the Withdrawal Agreement, which rules out the application of Article 184 - the article of discord between the Government of Spain and the United Kingdom - to the content of the future relationship, including, and this is important, at a territorial level.

Secondly, the British Government has recognised this interpretation in writing, and the Government of Spain places tremendous value on this written recognition by the British Government of this question.

Thirdly, within the framework of the future political declaration, the European Council and the European Commission strengthen Spain's position as never before with a view to the future negotiations, which are of vital importance because we are going to talk about co-sovereignty and other matters with the United Kingdom. On the one hand, because the declaration not only states that Spain's agreement is necessary, but that those agreements that affect Gibraltar must be separate agreements to those concluded by the European Union with the United Kingdom, and on the other hand, we have achieved a joint political declaration from the European Council and the European Commission, which is an historical text, laying down the basis in writing of a new way to address relations with Gibraltar at a European level.

The most important aspects of this declaration are as follows:

Firstly, it excludes Gibraltar from the general negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom. This will allow Spain to directly negotiate with the United Kingdom on Gibraltar.

Secondly, it demands the prior agreement of Spain for the negotiation of any agreement by the European Union that applies to Gibraltar. This means that we guarantee that the scope of future negotiations on relations with Gibraltar are in our interest and in line with our policy on Gibraltar.

We are no longer talking about an application or an agreement, but about genuine policy-making on Gibraltar that include the European dimension. This specifically relates to the obligation to respect, and this is important, the territorial integrity of States, one of the most important fundaments of the Government of Spain's claims in the last few hours.

This is a transcendental political and legal element, enabling Spain to agree on the terms of this agreement, because it specifically incorporates the provisions of Article 4.2 of the Treaty of the European Union, and thus makes clear that the issue of the territorial integrity of Spain is an essential element to preserve and be taken into account by both the European Council and the European Commission.

This is also a declaration from the European Commission, not only from the Member States, which is also essential, nor only due to its role as the guardian of the treaties of the European Union, but also due to its responsibility when negotiating any treaty with third parties, particularly including any negotiated with the United Kingdom.

Thirdly, the Government of Spain has attained a joint letter from the Presidents of the European Commission and of the European Council, ratifying Spain's demands.

In short, and by way of summary, Spain has achieved a triple shield, an historic triple shield, with which it can definitively address the future of Gibraltar over the coming years with the United Kingdom.

With this triple shield, that which was established in previous periods, such as the guidelines approved by the European Council in 2017, are significantly strengthened.

Before concluding, I wish to add several things:

The first of these, as I said at the start, is that I informed the King of the agreement reached. Secondly, over the weekend the Minister for Foreign Affairs will get in touch with all the foreign affairs spokespersons of the different parliamentary groups in the Lower House of Parliament. I will do the same next week with all the parliamentary groups and also, of course, with the joint group. I will also appear on 12 December in the Lower House of Parliament to explain the terms of this agreement and also the outcome of the European Council to be held on Sunday.

And finally, I want to pass on several messages, the first of these to the people of Campo de Gibraltar. Over recent days they have lived with uncertainty and genuine concern over the stalemate in recent hours. The Government of Spain will always oversee their economic and social interests.

To the Spanish people as a whole, I wish to state that we have taken a decisive step forward, and we have the absolute guarantees to resolve a conflict that has lasted for more than 300 years. We have achieved sufficient guarantees to find a solution to a conflict that has lasted for more than 300 years between the United Kingdom and Spain.

And finally, I want to say to the British people that Spain wishes to continue maintaining the best possible relations with the United Kingdom. Many Spaniards live in the United Kingdom and many British citizens live in our country.

And I don't want to end without thanking the Presidents of the European Council and of the European Commission and my colleagues at the European Council, and all the Member States for their support and understanding on this issue, which for us is transcendental.

And lastly, I want to thank our team of diplomats, the team of State lawyers and negotiators in both Brussels and Spain, because without them this diplomatic success would not have been possible.

We have a great State, great public servants and we are a great country.

Thank you.

Non official translation