Negotiation over, 'it’s now about implementation', CM says after Madrid bilateral with Albares
The time for negotiation “is over” and the focus is now on implementation of the UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said on Wednesday after a landmark meeting with Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares.
Mr Albares received Mr Picardo on Wednesday afternoon in a formal visit to his official residence in Madrid, the Palacio de Viana.
The symbolism of the moment was lost on no one. Chief Ministers have met with Spanish Foreign Ministers in the past, including Mr Picardo and Mr Albares, but most formal encounters have usually been alongside UK Foreign Secretaries.
There have also been one-to-one meetings with other Spanish foreign ministers, for example with Arancha Gonzalez-Laya in Algeciras during the Covid pandemic, among others.
But Wednesday was different and believed to be the first time a Gibraltarian Chief Minister has been invited to attend a formal bilateral meeting at official premises of the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
“I think it's a demonstration that we are taking the steps that the treaty envisaged,” Mr Picardo told reporters after the meeting, speaking in a patio at the entrance to the building in central Madrid.
“That we are now living in a world after negotiation where we are working together to deliver what this treaty provides for.”
“All of the things that divide us are in one clause of the treaty, in one page out of 1083 [pages].”
“There's 1082 pages of work for us to deliver together and we can only do that if we're talking to each other and if we normalise situations like this.”
Pressed on this point by a Spanish reporter, he added: “I hope in future this is not something that generates headlines, but rather is the most normal thing in the world.”
Mr Picardo arrived at the Palacio de Viana just before 4pm accompanied by Gemma Arias Vasquez, the Minister for Health and Business, and Michael Llamas, the Attorney General.
Mr Albares greeted Mr Picardo in the building’s ballroom, its walls adorned with intricate 18th century tapestries depicting scenes from Spanish history.
The two men then moved to an adjacent room for their meeting, first allowing official photographers and Gibraltarian media to capture visuals of the moment.
The meeting lasted around 30 minutes and Mr Picardo said the discussion focused on political and technical aspects of the practical requirements needed for provisional implementation of the treaty as from July 15.
“I'm very pleased to say that today was not about negotiation,” he said.
“That time is over.”
“This is now about the implementation of the treaty, about the work that we want to do together, about the brave new steps that we are taking together to see these esoteric things that you see set out in the treaty as articles become the reality of day to day life in Gibraltar and in the Campo de Gibraltar as a result of this treaty.”
On Thursday morning, Mr Picardo is due to address the Forum Europa, a high-profile platform that hosts weekly breakfast briefings from European political leaders.
He will be introduced by Xabi Fortes, a broadcaster who hosts ‘La Noche en 24 Horas’, the leading current affairs programme on RTVE.
On Thursday, the Chief Minister is scheduled to appear too on the programme itself.
Separately, Mr Albares will travel to the Campo de Gibraltar on Thursday morning to meet labour and business leaders during a treaty briefing the Campo Chamber of Commerce in Algeciras.
He will also meet Campo mayors to brief them on the latest developments, before hosting a press conference with the media.
