Franco ‘reassured’ after meeting Albares to discuss treaty’s impact on La Línea 

by Maria Jesus Corrales

Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met with the mayor of La Línea, Juan Franco, in Madrid on Thursday to discuss the implications of the Brexit treaty for the city.  

The meeting was held at the mayor’s request. 

Mr Franco presented a memorandum outlining the challenges and opportunities posed by the agreement in areas such as housing, pensioners and cross-border workers, traffic management, border fluidity, and land adjacent to the customs area.  

The document also highlighted potential economic opportunities and included contributions from groups such as Ascteg, the university of Cádiz and the local fisheries association. 

“We have tried to show the minister the challenges ahead, the concerns and opportunities that can be glimpsed in this new scenario,” Mr Franco said. 

The mayor noted that the minister confirmed the Spanish government’s hope to sign the treaty in the autumn and ratify it by the end of the year to begin implementation. 

Addressing one of the key concerns raised, Mr Franco said: “The minister confirmed to me that work is being done on the social situation of pensioners and cross-border workers, mainly through the creation of a social fund, as was announced.” 

Mr Franco thanked the minister for agreeing to meet one-to-one “given the situation we are facing as the city most affected by Brexit in all of Europe” and expressed appreciation for the efforts of the team at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Madrid. 

“This agreement has been tremendously complex and on many occasions we have seen it as something very, very, very distant,” he said. 

“With the effort and work that has been carried out, I believe we are facing a historic opportunity to resolve many of the problems that the city has been dragging along for centuries.” 

Mr Franco added: “I believe this is a reassuring message, which has allowed us to bring to the table the problems that are worrying us through the memorandum, and we hope to continue making progress towards the objectives set by the city council.” 

“I reiterate our thanks to the minister for the attention he has given us and for the work that has been carried out in closing this agreement.”