Spain to say no to Brexit deal if Gibraltar situation not clarified: PM

Spain will vote against the Brexit agreement if the situation of Gibraltar, the territory that Britain owns in the Iberian Peninsula, is not clarified, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said here Tuesday.

"We, as a country, can not assume that what will happen to Gibraltar in the future only depends on Britain and the European Union. This is something we have to define, negotiate and agree between Britain and Spain with the EU mediation," Sanchez said during the Spain Summit 2018 organized by The Economist.

In fact, he highlighted the surprise caused by a clause included in the draft Brexit agreement that postpones the future of Gibraltar to negotiations between the EU and Britain.

"Within 72 hours we found that... it does not clarify one thing that is essential for us, such as the Gibraltar situation in the future," he said.

Therefore, Sanchez said, if this agreement does not change before the extraordinary summit to be held this Sunday, Spain will vote against the deal.

In addition, he pointed out that no one informed the Spanish government of the inclusion of the Gibraltar clause, while Spain offered up to four options to Britain and the European negotiator Michel Barnier to resolve the Gibraltar issue.

Gibraltar, located in southern Spain, is a small British territory since 1713 and would leave the EU, although according to its official data, 96 percent of the 35,000 people living in its 7 square kilometers location voted against Brexit in the referendum.

Sanchez also commented on his government's foreign policy, which is focused on Africa (as it is close to Spain) and in Latin America because of the historical, commercial and cultural ties that the two parties share.

The management of the migratory crisis in Europe, said the Spanish prime minister, also marks the agenda of its foreign policy and that is why it is necessary to strengthen relations with African countries such as Morocco, from where thousands of migrants leave to cross the sea and reach Spain.

At a national level, Sanchez recognized for the first time that if he is not able to approve the General State Budget for 2019, he will be forced to call general elections before his term ends in 2020.

Sanchez has currently the support of 85 deputies of the 350 seats held by the Spanish Congress, so whenever he wants to take any proposal approved, he must seek support in a fragmented hemicycle.