Spain will seek co-sovereignty on Gibraltar following Britain`s vote to leave the European Union, acting foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said on Friday, saying the vote completely changed the outlook on the future of the peninsula, Reuters reports.
”It`s a complete change of outlook that opens up new possibilities on Gibraltar not seen for a very long time. I hope the formula of co-sovereignity – to be clear, the Spanish flag on the Rock – is much closer than before,” he said, according to Reuters.
The small peninsula off the south coast of Spain, a British Overseas Territory since 1713 and known to its 30,000 residents as ”the Rock”, is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations.
”It`s a complete change of outlook that opens up new possibilities on Gibraltar not seen for a very long time. I hope the formula of co-sovereignity – to be clear, the Spanish flag on the Rock – is much closer than before,” he said.
A spokesman for Gibraltar`s government declined to comment on the Brexit vote and referred to previous statements made on how co-sovereignty had already been rejected by around 99% of Gibraltarians in a previous local referendum.
Spain will push for Gibraltar to stay out of any general negotiations with the European Union following Britain`s exit from the bloc and will aim for bilateral talks to seek co-sovereignty and eventually Spanish control of the peninsula, Garcia-Margallo said.
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