Condolences following death of Julio Montesino, Madrid’s former representative in Campo

Spanish diplomat Julio Montesino Ramos, the representative of Spain’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs in the Campo between 2008 and 2017, died at weekend in Toronto, where he was the country’s consul general.

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo expressed his condolences on Monday on behalf of the Gibraltar Government and the people of Gibraltar.

“Mr Montesino’s role in the region was to act as a mediator between Gibraltar and Spain in the aftermath of the Cordoba Agreement,” Mr Picardo said.

“In doing so, he was open-minded, moderate and always respectful of the views of Gibraltar and communicated well with both politicians and journalists in developing open dialogue between Spain’s Foreign Ministry and Gibraltar.”

“I have written today to the Spanish Foreign Secretary and to Mr Montesino’s widow to express the sincere condolences of the Government and people of Gibraltar on his sad passing.”

Opposition MP Daniel Feetham also expressed condolences on social media.

“A good man who genuinely wanted to encourage workable agreements on Gibraltar that respected red lines on both sides,” Mr Feetham tweeted.

“He was someone who could see ‘our’ point of view whilst defending his own.”

“I considered him a friend and this is sad news indeed. My condolences to his family.”