Spain's prime minister said the summit could proceed since he had received written assurances that meant that in the future, Spain and Britain could directly negotiate on Brexit issues relating to Gibraltar.

LONDON – Nothing is simple in Brexitland.

In the lead-up to a historic summit Sunday in Brussels, where a Brexit deal is expected to be rubber-stamped, tiny Gibraltar suddenly loomed large.

It literally put Britain’s European Union (EU) divorce settlement between “The Rock” and a hard place for a time. That’s because Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez insisted his country have final say over any future status of the enclave, a self-governing British territory on the tip of southern Spain and near the narrow mouth of the Mediterranean.

Spain, which has had a centuries-long feud with Britain over Gibraltar, wanted Britain to make a commitment in writing before the summit.

It went down to the wire. Late Saturday, Sánchez said Spain would lift its veto because the EU and Britain had accepted Spain’s demands. The summit, he said, could go ahead now that he had received written assurances that meant that in the future, Madrid and London could directly negotiate on Brexit issues relating to Gibraltar.

On Sunday, the leaders of the 28 EU countries are expected to meet in Brussels at a carefully choreographed summit to approve Brexit plans and an accompanying political declaration on the future ties between Britain and the 27 EU nations that will say goodbye officially in March.

The Brexit package, which is very much British Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal, has been painstakingly crafted. But it’s been a tortured path: 17 months of sometimes bitter negotiations, nonstop bickering within May’s own leadership team, ongoing concerns about how to handle the border between EU-member Ireland and North Ireland, the resignation of a string of ministers, including two Brexit secretaries, and a new vocabulary of Brexit-related puns and put-downs from British tabloids.

About 30,000 Britons live in Gibraltar, a 2.6-square mile rocky outpost that shares a land border with Spain. It was famously the headquarters for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during the planning stages of the Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942.

The sovereignty issues surrounding Gibraltar may have hit the headlines this week, but they are long-festering. Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht, but it is still claimed by Spain. In a 2002 referendum, its citizens overwhelming rejected a proposal of joint British-Spanish rule, instead opting to remain under the sovereignty of Britain only.

But the two countries have deep ties with each other; an estimated 12,000 workers cross the border every day. In the 2016 EU referendum, Gibraltarians voted 96 percent to remain in the EU.

May has said that any Brexit deal must apply to the “whole U.K. family,” including Gibraltar.

Spain can’t officially “veto” the withdrawal agreement, a 585-page legally-binding agreement, but the EU has worked hard at presenting a united front during Brexit negotiations and it wants a consensus on Sunday.

Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, tweeted on Saturday afternoon that there was unity and solidarity from the EU side. He added: “No one has reasons to be happy.”

Even with the Gibraltar issue solved at the eleventh hour, May’s headaches are far from over. If the deal is signed off in Brussels this weekend, as expected, she still needs to persuade the majority of British lawmakers to back her deal – arguably her biggest challenge yet. </s> BRUSSELS (AP) — The Latest on Brexit negotiations (all times local):

Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has slammed the proposed Brexit deal and urged the Democratic Unionist Party not to abandon the Conservative Party.

Johnson told the DUP conference in Belfast Saturday that the Northern Ireland party's support is crucial to the government.

He said that "I hope that you agree that it is absolutely vital that we keep this partnership going." Johnson warned of the dangers of weakening the Conservatives so much that the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn comes to power.

The DUP is threatening to break with the government over Brexit.

Johnson said that Prime Minister Theresa May's government is "making a historic mistake" if it goes forward with its Brexit plan. He said it would greatly reduce Britain's influence and ability to make independent trade deals.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says Spain will agree to support the Brexit deal after Britain and the European Union agreed to give it a say in the future of the disputed British territory of Gibraltar.

Sanchez says Saturday that the U.K. and the EU have agreed to include language in the Brexit divorce deal that Spain could deal with London directly on the issue of Gibraltar.

Sanchez says "this is going to allow us to have direct negotiations with the U.K. regarding Gibraltar."

The issue had become a late stumbling block in the Brexit talks. Sanchez had said on Friday he wouldn't back the divorce deal U.K. and European Union leaders are supposed to vote on during Sunday's summit in Brussels, saying a draft agreement did not include clear language regarding Gibraltar.

The European Union is close to reaching an agreement to ease Spanish concerns about the future of Gibraltar in Brexit talks.

EU spokesman Preben Aamann said on Twitter Saturday that after a phone conversation between Spanish Premier Pedro Sanchez and EU Council President Donald Tusk, "we are closer" to an agreement ahead of Sunday's EU summit in Brussels.

The future of tiny territory of Gibraltar — ceded to Britain in 1713 but which is still claimed by Spain — was the only dispute left hanging ahead of Sunday's summit.

On Friday, Spain pushed for a cast-iron guarantee of its say over the future of Gibraltar as a condition for backing a divorce agreement between Britain and the EU.

The deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland has used a party conference speech to try to persuade Prime Minister Theresa May to change course on Brexit.

Nigel Dodds told the conference in Belfast Saturday that it is not too late for May to alter her Brexit plan.

He says her proposed Brexit agreement reached with the European Union would leave the U.K. in a "pitiful and pathetic place."

The small DUP has an outsize role because its support has been crucial to May's shaky government, which doesn't enjoy a majority in Parliament.

The party is threatening to end its support over the Brexit plan favored by May. That would imperil May's already difficult challenge in winning parliamentary support for her proposal.

Portugal's foreign minister is in support of the Brexit deal including Spain's request to have its say on the future of the disputed British territory of Gibraltar.

Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva says that the original Brexit guidelines laid out last year that included assurances to Spain that it could deal with London directly on the issue of Gibraltar were "wise."

Spain said Friday it wouldn't back the divorce deal U.K. and European Union leaders are supposed to vote on during Sunday's summit in Brussels after language regarding Gibraltar didn't appear in a draft agreement.

Santos Silva says the impasse has an "easy resolution because the heads of state of the 27 had already agreed (.) that any agreement between the U.K. and the EU regarding Gibraltar would require previous agreement from Spain, and that appears to be a very wise line."

British Prime Minister Theresa May is kicking off a big Brexit weekend as she travels to the European Union headquarters in Brussels for talks on Saturday with key leaders.

Spanish objections over the status of Gibraltar — the tiny territory ceded to Britain in 1713 but is still claimed by Spain — is the only dispute left hanging ahead of Sunday's summit of EU leaders.

May will meet with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Council President Donald Tusk in the evening.

May hopes to leave Brussels on Sunday with a firm agreement on the withdrawal terms for Britain's departure from the EU on March 29, as well as a comprehensive negotiating text on how future relations should look like once both sides agree on a trade agreement. </s> Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose country claims the rock should be part of its territory, withdrew a threat to boycott Sunday's European Council just hours before Britain's Theresa May was due in Brussels.

The British premier plans to meet EU leaders Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, even though diplomats say the agreement is ready for EU leaders to approve.

Ahead of her arrival, diplomats had scrambled for an unexpectedly intense final round of discussion, after Spain insisted on keeping a veto over future changes to EU ties with Gibraltar.

Then Britain issued a statement saying it would continue bilateral talks with Spain after Brexit on 29 March -- and Sanchez relented.

"I have just announced to the King that Spain has reached an agreement on Gibraltar," he told a news conference.

"The European Council will therefore be held tomorrow. Europe and the United Kingdom have accepted Spain's demands. Spain has lifted the veto and will vote in favour of Brexit."

Gibraltar, a rocky outcrop home to a port and around 30,000 people, is a British territory claimed by Spain and a bone of contention as London negotiates a new relationship with Brussels beyond Brexit.

Even as Sanchez was speaking, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, was finally able to issue his letter inviting the leaders of EU member states to Sunday's summit.

"I will recommend that on Sunday we approve the outcome of the Brexit negotiations," Tusk said, saying the deal on the table reduces "the risks and losses resulting from the United Kingdom's withdrawal".

"And although no-one will have reasons to be happy on that day, there is one thing I would like to stress: at this critical time, the EU27 has passed the test of unity and solidarity," he added.

According to Tusk's invitation, the withdrawal agreement protects citizens' rights and the Northern Ireland peace process, while ensuring Britain will keep paying EU dues during a transition period. </s> London – European Union diplomats were meeting Friday to finalize the draft divorce agreement between Britain and the bloc, amid a warning from Spain that it will oppose the deal if it isn’t guaranteed a say over the future of Gibraltar.

Leaders of EU nations are due to meet Sunday to sign off on the deal, which lays out the terms of Britain’s departure in March and sets up a framework for future relations. But Spain remains unsatisfied.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted that Britain and Spain “remain far away” on the issue and “if there are no changes, we will veto Brexit.”

Spain wants the future of the tiny territory at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula – ceded to Britain in 1713 but still claimed by Spain – to be a bilateral issue between Madrid and London. Spanish officials are concerned that a key clause in the agreement referring to U.K.-EU negotiations on their future relationship makes no mention of Gibraltar.

Spain doesn’t have a veto on the withdrawal agreement, which does not have to be approved unanimously. But it could hold up a future free-trade deal between Britain and the EU, which would require approval of all 27 EU nations.

A Spanish government official said the dispute over Gibraltar could be resolved by modifying a single clause in the divorce agreement – though both Britain and the EU have said the agreement won’t be amended.

Spain’s junior minister for the EU, Luis Marco Aguiriano, said Friday that officials could tweak article 184 to make it clear that future relations between the EU and Gibraltar “will be negotiated with the U.K. with Spain’s prior consent.”

He said in an interview with Spain’s Onda Cero radio station that officials in Brussels were working on options to accommodate Spain’s concerns about Gibraltar, and estimated there was a 60 percent chance of success.

Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo criticized Spain’s insistence on a written guarantee, saying “Gibraltar has demonstrated that we actually want a direct engagement with Spain on issues.”

“Spain is the physical and geographical gateway to Europe for Gibraltar,” Picardo told the BBC. “We recognize that and there is absolutely no need for us to be vetoed into being brought to the table.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said Germany believed outstanding questions would be cleared up in time for Sunday’s summit to go ahead.

“We assume that open questions can be cleared up by Sunday,” spokesman Steffen Seibert said. “That is being worked on intensively, so the chancellor is preparing for the trip to Brussels.”

If EU leaders rubber-stamp the deal, it needs to be approved by the European and British Parliaments – a tough task for British Prime Minister Theresa May, whose Conservatives lack a majority in the House of Commons.

May was answering calls on a radio phone-in Friday in a bid to win public support for the divorce deal, which has been slammed by pro-Brexit and pro-EU politicians alike.

Brexiteers think the agreement will leave the U.K. tied too closely to EU rules, while pro-Europeans say it will erect new barriers between Britain and the bloc – its neighbor and biggest trading partner.

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this story.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> London (AP) — Spain pushed Friday for a cast-iron guarantee of its say over the future of Gibraltar as a condition for backing a divorce agreement between Britain and European Union, as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May battled to win approval for the deal from skeptical politicians and a Brexit-weary populace.

Spain’s leader warned he would oppose the deal, which lays out the terms of Britain’s departure in March and sets up a framework for future relations, if language wasn’t added on Gibraltar, the disputed territory at the tip of the Iberian peninsula.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez — who is due to join other EU leaders at a Brussels summit on Sunday to rubber-stamp the deal — tweeted that Britain and Spain “remain far away” on the issue and “if there are no changes, we will veto Brexit.”

Spain wants the future of the tiny territory, which was ceded to Britain in 1713 but is still claimed by Spain, to be a bilateral issue between Madrid and London.

Last year’s EU guidelines on the Brexit negotiations effectively gave Spain veto powers over future relations between the bloc and the British overseas territory. But Spanish officials are concerned that a key clause in the agreement referring to U.K.-EU negotiations on their future relationship makes no mention of Gibraltar.

Spanish government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa said Spain required an “absolute guarantee” that any future agreement between the EU and the U.K. in matters regarding Gibraltar “will require the prior agreement of Spain.”

Spain doesn’t have a veto on the withdrawal agreement, which doesn’t have to be approved unanimously. But it could hold up a future free-trade deal between Britain and the EU, which would require the approval of all 27 EU nations.

Spain’s junior minister for the European Union, Luis Marco Aguiriano, said Friday that British authorities had made a commitment to address Spain’s concerns on Gibraltar, but that he had not yet seen it in writing.

“We have a promise, a commitment, from the British government saying they are ready to … guarantee that they will go along with the clarification we have requested,” he said.

After a meeting in Brussels Friday of senior EU officials, the Spanish government said negotiations were continuing but not enough progress had been made to drop the veto threat.

Britain and the EU say the withdrawal agreement won’t be changed but haven’t ruled out putting something in writing to allay Spain’s fears.

May said Friday that “we have been working with the government of Gibraltar and the government of Spain” on measures for Gibraltar.

Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo criticized Spain’s insistence on a written guarantee, saying Gibraltar — a largely self-governing British overseas territory — “has demonstrated that we actually want a direct engagement with Spain on issues.”

“Spain is the physical and geographical gateway to Europe for Gibraltar,” Picardo told the BBC. “We recognize that and there is absolutely no need for us to be vetoed into being brought to the table.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said Germany believed outstanding questions would be cleared up in time for Sunday’s summit to go ahead.

“We assume that open questions can be cleared up by Sunday,” spokesman Steffen Seibert said. “That is being worked on intensively, so the chancellor is preparing for the trip to Brussels.”

If EU leaders sign off on the deal, it needs to be approved by the European and British Parliaments — a tough task for May, whose Conservatives lack a majority in the House of Commons.

May answered calls on a radio phone-in show Friday in a bid to win public support for the divorce deal, which has been slammed by pro-Brexit and pro-EU politicians alike.

Brexiteers think the agreement will leave the U.K. tied too closely to EU rules, while pro-Europeans say it will erect new barriers between Britain and the bloc — its neighbor and biggest trading partner.

May declined to say when asked by a caller whether she would resign if the deal was rejected by Parliament.

“This isn’t about me,” she said. “I’m not thinking about me. I’m thinking about getting a deal through that delivers for this country.”

She warned that rejecting the deal would lead to “more uncertainty and more division” and could result in Britain crashing out of the bloc without agreement — an outcome feared by many businesses.

“If this deal doesn’t go through what happens is, we end up back at square one,” May said.

I don’t think (the EU) are going to come to us and say, ‘We’ll give you a better deal,'” she added. </s> BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An 11th-hour deal on Saturday to answer Spanish demands for a big say on Gibraltar after Britain leaves the EU has salvaged an EU summit which will now go ahead as planned on Sunday to deliver a Brexit accord.

With British Prime Minister Theresa May due to meet EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker and summit chair Donald Tusk at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) and 7:15 p.m. respectively, Tusk secured a deal with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who had been threatening to scupper the consensus by staying away on Sunday.

“After the phone call between (Tusk) and (Sanchez) a few minutes ago, we are closer to tomorrow’s (European Council),” Tusk’s spokesman Preben Aamann said on Twitter.

The British government released a letter from the British ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow to the head of Tusk’s secretariat spelling out that Britain would make no presumption that any future EU-UK trade pact would apply to Gibraltar.

Sanchez was due to make a statement in Madrid at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) to outline the agreement, diplomats said, after British and Spanish negotiators talked through the night with EU officials trying to broker a deal that would reassure Madrid on how the Brexit treaties would apply to Gibraltar and give it a clear say on their application — without reopening the texts.

Those assurances should form part of a brief statement agreed by the 27 EU leaders and added to the minutes of Sunday morning’s hour-long meeting before the 27 meet May at 11 a.m.

“Negotiations went on through the night with Spain and Britain,” one diplomatic source said. “In a telephone conversation just now, Tusk and Sanchez reached an agreement on Gibraltar. The summit will go ahead.”

Many Brussels insiders view Sanchez’s gambit as summit grandstanding for domestic purposes — he faces a regional election next weekend in Andalusia, the province to which Spaniards argue Britain’s 300-year-old naval base and 30,000 citizens on the rock of Gibraltar rightly belong.

The biggest obstacle to the Brexit accord overall is the vehement opposition in the British parliament. Without its approval, Britain could leave the bloc on March 29 without an agreement to mitigate economic and legal disruption. </s> BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Spanish reservations over Gibraltar on Friday prevented the European Union clearing the last hurdle before a summit that is due to endorse the bloc’s Brexit deal with Britain on Sunday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will pick up the baton on Saturday evening when she holds talks in Brussels with Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the EU’s executive Commission.

National negotiators of the 27 EU states staying on together after Brexit reached no agreement on Gibraltar on Friday.

With four months left until Britain leaves the EU, the legal divorce treaty and an accompanying political declaration are due to be rubber-stamped in Brussels by May and the other 27 EU leaders so that they can then go to the respective parliaments.

Spain has asked for changes to both the draft withdrawal treaty and the accompanying declaration on future ties to spell out that any decisions about Gibraltar, a rocky, peninsular British overseas territory that Spain claims as its own, would only be taken together with Madrid.

Spain says Britain had given it corresponding assurances before publishing its latest draft.

At Sunday’s summit, the EU leaders would expect to endorse the treaty and approve the declaration by consensus, which means Spain in effect has the power to hold up the process.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday: “After my conversation with Theresa May, our positions remain far away,” adding: “If there are no changes, we will veto Brexit.”

May’s spokeswoman said May would work with the Spanish government on Gibraltar.

In Germany, a government spokesman was confident a solution would be found in time for Sunday’s summit.

Berlin had earlier said there could be no more technical negotiations at the summit, and that Chancellor Angela Merkel could skip it if all the texts are not ready in advance.

If everything goes according to the plan and the Brexit package is approved on Sunday, the EU will also commit to try to secure prompt ratification by the European Parliament “to provide for an orderly withdrawal”, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.

However, the biggest obstacle to the Brexit accord is the vehement opposition in the British parliament. Without its approval, Britain could leave the bloc on March 29 without an agreement to mitigate economic and legal disruption.

Former Brexit minister Dominic Raab on Friday said he expected the House of Commons to vote the deal it down.

May responded that Britain would not get a better deal with the EU if it did not take this one.

Determined not to allow any redrafting to risk derailing the fragile process, EU states want to address Spain’s concerns in a separate statement by the 27 leaders on Sunday that would not be part of negotiations with Britain.

It could refer back to the EU’s 2017 Brexit mandate, which said that, after Brexit, “no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between ... Spain and the United Kingdom”.

It would clarify that the EU’s reading of the corresponding paragraphs in the divorce treaty and the declaration on future ties is exactly that.

Other clauses in this separate statement say, according to a draft seen by Reuters, that the bloc would want to get a new deal on fisheries with Britain as a priority in talks on the broader trade relationship, to be agreed “well before” the end of Britain’s status-quo transition period after Brexit.

It adds that any such deal would build on the existing access of EU vessels to Britain’s rich fishing waters, something London wants to be firmly in control of.

It further highlights EU demands that Britain does not undercut labour, environmental or labour standards. It stresses the needs to safeguard expatriates’ rights, as well as the Paris climate accord.

EU diplomats hoped a text would be agreed late on Friday, but feared Sanchez would still want to discuss it at the top level on Sunday to demonstrate his determination at home ahead of a December regional election.

“It will only be done by the leaders,” said one diplomat.

The Brexit deal covers financial settlement, citizens’ rights and the Irish border, as well as setting a blueprint for future trade and security ties. </s> European Union negotiators are meeting today to try to clear the last hurdle before a Sunday summit is due to endorse the Brexit deal, but Spain’s eleventh-hour objections over Gibraltar mean the final text could not be ready until the last minute.

Four months before Britain leaves the EU, the legal divorce treaty and an accompanying political declaration on the two sides’ future ties are ready to be rubber-stamped by British prime minister Theresa May and the leaders of the 27 union states staying on together after Brexit.

Spain has asked for changes to the withdrawal treaty and the declaration on a new EU-UK relationship to make clear any decisions about the disputed British overseas territory of Gibraltar would only be taken in direct talks with Madrid.

Spain disputes British sovereignty of Gibraltar, which is perched on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula and the territory has frequently been the cause of tensions between Madrid and London.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday that Spain will veto the draft deal on Britain’s exit from the European Union, if there are no changes made.

“After my conversation with Theresa May, our positions remain far away. My government will always defend the interests of Spain. If there are no changes, we will veto Brexit”, Mr Sanchez said in a tweet.

Spain does not have power to veto the draft withdrawal deal, as it is subject to a qualified majority vote, but EU leaders will be anxious to ensure that unanimity is achieved at Sunday’s summit meeting.

The Brexit package faces vehement opposition in the British parliament, which must vote in favour for it to take effect. Otherwise Britain risks crashing out of the bloc on March 29th, 2019, without an agreement to mitigate economic disruptions.

Determined not to allow any redrafting of either of the two texts and risk derailing the fragile process, EU states have instead proposed to address Spain’s concerns in a separate statement by the 27 leaders on Sunday that would not be part of negotiations with Britain.

The national leaders’ EU negotiators - or ‘sherpas’ - meet at 9am Irish time on Friday in Brussels and Mrs May will then come for talks with the head of the bloc’s executive, Jean-Claude Juncker, on Saturday evening, just hours before the summit.

EU diplomats hope a text could be agreed by Friday evening but they also fear Sanchez would want to make a case of discussing it at the top level on Sunday to show determination and win points with voters at home ahead of a December regional election.

The Brexit deal covers financial settlement, expatriates’ rights and the sensitive Irish border, as well as setting a blueprint for future trade and security ties. It must also be backed by the European Parliament to come into force next year. –Reuters </s> LONDON — Nothing is simple in Brexitland.

In the lead-up to a historic summit Sunday in Brussels, where a Brexit deal is expected to be rubber-stamped, tiny Gibraltar suddenly loomed large.

It literally put Britain's European Union divorce settlement between "The Rock" and a hard place for a time. That's because Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez insisted his country have final say over any future status of the enclave, a self-governing British territory on the tip of southern Spain and near the narrow mouth of the Mediterranean.

Spain, which has had a centuries-long feud with Britain over Gibraltar, wanted Britain to make a commitment in writing before the summit.

It went down to the wire. Late Saturday, Sanchez said it would lift its veto because the Europe Union and the Britain had accepted Spain's demands. The summit, he said, could go ahead now that he had received written assurances that meant that in the future Madrid and London could directly negotiate on Brexit issues relating to Gibraltar.

On Sunday, the leaders of the 28 EU countries are expected to meet in Brussels at a carefully choreographed summit to approve Brexit plans and an accompanying political declaration on the future ties between Britain and the 27 EU nations that will say goodbye officially in March.

The Brexit package, which is very much the British Prime Minister Theresa May's deal, has been painstakingly crafted. But it's been a tortured path: 17 months of sometimes bitter negotiations, nonstop bickering within May's own leadership team, ongoing concerns about how to handle the border between EU-member Ireland and North Ireland, the resignation of a string of ministers including two Brexit secretaries, and a new vocabulary of Brexit-related puns and put-downs from British tabloids.

Around 30,000 Britons live in Gibraltar, a 2.6-square mile rocky outpost that shares a land border with Spain. It was famously the headquarters for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during the planning stages of the Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942.

The sovereignty issues around Gibraltar may have hit the headlines this week, but they are long-festering. Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht, but it is still claimed by Spain. In a 2002 referendum, its citizens overwhelming rejected a proposal of joint British-Spanish rule, instead opting to remain under the sovereignty of Britain only.

But the two countries have deep ties with each other — an estimated 12,000 workers cross the border every day. In the 2016 EU referendum, Gibraltarians voted 96 per cent to remain in the European Union.
The Spanish government and the UK government reach an agreement on Gibraltar whereby Spain lifts its threat of boycotting Sunday's summit on Brexit. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says there are now "sufficient guarantees" that any future decisions regarding Gibraltar would be made with Spain.