Hopes are rising that Britain and Spain will sign a treaty over the future of Gibraltar within weeks as the two countries announced agreement on key issues after high-level talks.
Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the foreign secretary, José Manuel Albares, his Spanish counterpart, Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, and Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of the European Commission, announced the progress in a joint statement in Brussels.
The talks marked “an important advance” towards an agreement that officials hope to clinch before EU parliamentary elections in two months.
The negotiations have resolved in general terms, the participants said, the chief sticking point having been the UK’s objections to a Spanish proposal for Madrid to control Gibraltar’s airport.
“Discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with
