Spain’s Deputy PM links Gib’s removal from Spanish tax blacklist to UK/EU treaty, contrary to earlier commitment 

Spain will remove Gibraltar from its blacklist of tax havens once the UK/EU treaty “is signed”, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Treasury Minister, Maria Jesus Montero, said on Friday, in comments at odds with an earlier Spanish commitment tied to the tax treaty ratified in March 2021. 

Ms Montero was speaking to reporters during a visit to the Mancomunidad de Municipios in Algeciras centred on a 7.3m euro package to support waste and water management in the Campo de Gibraltar. 

Despite upbeat comments on an agreement she described as “historic” and beneficial for communities on both sides of the border, a remark on Gibraltar’s removal from Spain’s list of tax havens will be met with some concern here and in the UK. 

“Once signed, the agreement will lead to Gibraltar’s removal from the list of tax havens where it is currently included by the Treasury Ministry,” Ms Montero said in response to questions on the UK/EU treaty. 

The statement is problematic because Gibraltar’s removal from that list had been agreed at the time that the tax treaty for Gibraltar and Spain came into force on March 4, 2021, and was not linked to the UK/EU treaty negotiation. 

Spain has yet to comply with that commitment, even though it was meant to have done so within two years of the tax treaty’s ratification and has repeatedly assured the UK and Gibraltar that the process is under way. 

For Gibraltar, this is a crucial commitment that must be met before a UK/EU treaty is signed, a point previously stressed publicly by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo. 

Last February, during an appearance on Spanish state broadcaster TVE’s late-night current affairs programme La Noche, Mr Picardo batted away accusations that Gibraltar was a “tax haven”, highlighting the verifiable fact that the Rock has been white-listed by the international Financial Action Task Force. 

Since then, Gibraltar has also been removed from the EU’s list of high-risk jurisdictions. 

During the TVE programme, Mr Picardo reminded the panel that Gibraltar had a treaty in place with Spain for the exchange of tax information, as well as a commitment from Madrid to remove the Rock from the Spanish blacklist. 

“We are now about to see the process of Gibraltar being removed from that list,” Mr Picardo said at the time. 

“As you can understand, we will not reach a new treaty if the last one has not been fulfilled.” 

The Chronicle understands that position remains unchanged. 

It is not clear why Ms Montero linked Spain’s commitment to remove Gibraltar from the Spanish list to the signing of the UK/EU treaty, though she has not been directly involved in the treaty negotiation, raising the possibility it was a simple case of careless language in response to journalists’ questions. 

Asked for clarification, a spokesperson for the Spanish Treasury Ministry would not be drawn and referred only to the minister’s words. 

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Madrid did not respond to requests from the Chronicle for clarification. 

A spokesperson for No.6 Convent Place said: “There is no link between the UK/EU Treaty in relation to Gibraltar and Spain's obligation to remove us from their blacklist under the Gibraltar/Spain tax treaty.” 

‘INCREASINGLY CORDIAL’ 

In Algeciras on Friday, Ms Montero said the UK/EU treaty had free movement and the removal of the border “fence” at its core. 

“This is an agreement we have been working on, as you well know, very intensively, particularly since the United Kingdom’s exit from Europe,” she said, adding the political agreement had been reached “with the Government of Gibraltar and with the Government of the United Kingdom”. 

“What at first complicated this agreement has, far from being an obstacle, become a facilitating factor.” 

The treaty would envisage “a degree of fiscal harmonisation” between Gibraltar and neighbouring Campo towns in areas such as tobacco taxation and had been reached “after increasingly cordial relations”, Ms Montero said. 

She thanked “the authorities in Gibraltar for all the meetings and hours dedicated to this task”.  

“I hope that this agreement can be signed very soon,” she said. 

“So, all in all, this is good news for our relations with the Rock, with the Government of the United Kingdom, and particularly with the Government of Gibraltar.”  

“And I am convinced this will improve the daily lives of all the citizens in this region who, as I said, are eager for this agreement to finally become a reality, symbolised by the fall of that [border] fence.” 

Maria Jesus Corrales contributed reporting for this article.