Sanchez says Gib deal will ‘bring down the last wall’ in the EU

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, championed the UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar during a political rally in La Linea on Sunday.

Addressing a packed auditorium in the city’s Palacio de Congresos just a stone’s throw from the border, he said Maria Jesus Montero, the Socialist candidate in next week’s Andalusian regional election, had played a vital role in getting the agreement over the line.

“We have managed, after hundreds of years - not dozens, hundreds – to bring down the last wall in the European Union, the fence,” he said.

Mr Sanchez said the agreement would benefit not just the Campo but “Cadiz, Andalucia and the whole of Spain”.

He said it would “create a space for shared development, shared prosperity”, guaranteeing freedom of movement for citizens and protecting the rights of 15,000 cross-border workers.

And he criticised the stance on the treaty taken by Spain’s “destructive opposition” parties PP and Vox.

“If the PP had been in government with Vox after 2023, I guarantee you that this agreement would not have materialised,” Mr Sanchez said.

“They are always creating problems. They never find solutions.”

The meeting also heard from Ms Montero and Juan Cornejo, who heads the Socialist in the province of Cadiz.

They defended the government’s record on jobs, pensions, renewable energy and anti-narcotics policy, while urging progressive voters to unite in Andalucia and back the PSOE as the only viable alternative to the PP.

Ms Montero’s key message was focused on healthcare and education, but she also referred to the Gibraltar agreement. 

“It has been hard, difficult, complicated work, like everything that is worthwhile,” she said.  

“But we are now here with the agreement that will allow us to address this long-standing demand we have always had, to create a shared space in the Campo de Gibraltar.” 

“We will have opportunities to create quality jobs, for companies to come and set up in the Campo de Gibraltar, because we have an enviable geopolitical position.” 

“And we have to take advantage of it, and we have removed the last obstacle we had to moving forward, which was that fence.” 

The rally was initially due to be held on Saturday but was pushed back a day following the deaths of two Guardia Civil officers in a collision at sea off Huelva while chasing drug smugglers. 

This weekend, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo wrote to Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska and to the President of Andalucia, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, to express the condolences of the people of Gibraltar at the death of two officers.