Gib treaty ‘historic opportunity’ to deepen UK/Spain relations, Albares says after meeting Miliband

The Gibraltar treaty offered a “historic opportunity” for Spain and the UK to further deepen bilateral relations that were already “at their best moment”, Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, said after meeting his UK counterpart this week.

Newly appointed UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband travelled to Madrid on Wednesday evening where he met Mr Albares in his official residence, the Palacio de Viana.

The two discussed the UK/Spain relationship, trade and investment, security, gender violence and the impact of climate change, an issue brought into sharp focus this summer by devastating wildfires including in Spain and France.

The two ministers also found time to reflect on recent developments in respect of the Gibraltar treaty, with Mr Miliband thanking Mr Albares for his “personal leadership” during the negotiation.

“Our bilateral relations are very good, but the signing of the agreement concerning Gibraltar represents a historic opportunity to go further and deepen them,” Mr Albares said.

“We also have the Bilateral Strategic Framework signed in London in September 2025, and we want to continue making progress on its implementation.”

Later on X, Mr Albares said relations between Spain and the UK were “at their best moment”, adding the Gibraltar was “proof that dialogue, cooperation, and multilateralism improve the lives of our citizens”.

Mr Albares and Mr Miliband signed two bilateral agreements, one focused on climate action and foreign policy and the other on cooperation on gender equality.

The main focus of the meeting, at least in public statements, was on climate change, a subject that Mr Miliband knows in detail having served until recently as UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

At a time when Europe is facing record heatwaves, the two ministers agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening citizens’ way of life.

Both parties agreed that tackling the climate crisis was an urgent policy priority for all countries to tackle the cost of living, protect health and wellbeing, and to ensure European economic and energy security, both now and for future generations.

The ministers called for reduced dependence on fossil fuels, closer cooperation on clean energy and greater support for developing countries in their energy transition.

They stressed too the need to mobilise sustainable finance, encourage investment and innovation, and use international financial institutions and multilateral development banks to support climate action.

The UK and Spain are agreed that tackling climate change should remain a foreign policy priority and that they should jointly support the green transition, linking decarbonisation, energy security, environmental protection and resilience to national security, prosperity and economic competitiveness.

The ministers also reaffirmed support for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, stressing the need for stronger global action to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

They also highlighted the importance of scientific evidence and the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.