Spain Satisfied With Protocol On Gibraltar Within UK-EU Draft Brexit Deal - Madrid

Spain is satisfied with the UK-EU draft agreement on Brexit, including the protocol on Gibraltar, the country's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2018) Spain is satisfied with the UK-EU draft agreement on Brexit, including the protocol on Gibraltar, the country's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Following more than a year of tough talks on Brexit conditions, London and Brussels have finally produced a draft agreement on the conditions of the UK divorce from the bloc. The deal includes three protocols, concerning Gibraltar, Cyprus and the Irish border.

"This draft agreement is not ideal, but in the current situation it is a success ... The deal fits the position of Spain, which primarily insisted on the need to respect the rights of citizens [after Brexit] ... Spain is very satisfied with the protocol on Gibraltar ... [and] satisfied that the EU sided with Spain in negotiations with the UK," Spain's State Secretary for the EU Luis Marco Aguiriano Nalda told a press conference.

He added that if the deal was finally concluded, it "will prevent a catastrophic fall for the UK, as well as negative consequences for Spain and the EU."

The protocol on Gibraltar created the basis for the administrative cooperation on a series of subjects - the rights of citizens, taxation, tobacco, environment, fisheries, police and customs cooperation. This protocol is part of a broader package of bilateral agreements between Spain and the United Kingdom on Gibraltar, according to EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

Gibraltar, the only British Overseas Territory which is the part of the European Union, has overwhelmingly voted to remain in the bloc at the 2016 Brexit referendum.