Sanchez hails ‘historic’ Gib agreement, defends his government’s record

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hailed the “historic” political agreement on a UK/EU treaty for Gibraltar as a highlight of his country’s foreign policy during a midterm review of his government’s performance.

Speaking during a press conference on Monday, Mr Sanchez also said he had no plans to bring forward Spain's next general election, which is due in 2027.

The Prime Minister has resisted calls for his resignation despite his beleaguered PSOE party being mired in political scandals in recent months and facing tough criticism even from its coalition partners in government.

“Legislative terms last four years,” he told reporters.

On Monday, Mr Sanchez said he would again present a budget this year despite lacking support for previous budgets in his first two years of government.

Mr Sanchez said he backed an EU trade deal with the US agreed on Sunday, albeit "without any enthusiasm".

The deal fixes a baseline tariff of 15% on EU exports to the US, which is lower than the blanket 30% tariffs Mr Trump had threatened but is significantly higher than the duties in place to date.

"I value the constructive and negotiating attitude of the president of the European Commission,” he said.

“Either way, I support this trade agreement, but I do so without any enthusiasm.”

Mr Sanchez defended Spain’s economic performance, with GDP and employment growth stronger that other EU countries, insisting his Government’s policies were “beneficial” for the country.

And reflecting on foreign policy, he said: “We have reached a historic agreement with the UK over Gibraltar.”

The treaty text that will flow from the June 11 agreement is currently being finalised.

Earlier this month, Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, said the text will be ready by October.

Last week, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said progress on the text was ongoing and it could be finalised “sooner rather than later”.

"The work on finalising negotiation of the treaty text is ongoing and I am very happy to be able to report that the past few weeks have seen a lot of activity in this respect, with a lot of text being circulated and considered in a very positive and constructive spirit which bodes well for the timing of the text being published sooner rather than later,” Mr Picardo said.