The Government has said that it does not comment on press articles based on unnamed Spanish Foreign ministry sources. This comes after an article on the Confidencial Digital website claimed that Spain has softened its approach to the Rock and would not be exercising its Brexit veto.

A spokesperson for the Government said: “The Government nonetheless reiterates, as it has repeatedly stated, that it is happy to discuss all matters of mutual interest with a view to enhanced cooperation for the benefit of communities on both sides of the frontier.

“In such discussions, the Gibraltar Government would obviously not consider any departure from its established red lines on matters pertaining to sovereignty, jurisdiction or control.”

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: "We have seen and we are going to see so much unattributed comment in Spanish and international media in the coming months that the best thing for people in Gibraltar to do is to concentrate on the analysis of the actual drafts and then the final versions of the political agreements in relation to Brexit and then the detail of the legal texts that will follow them. That's what my Brexit team is doing. Everything else, attributed or otherwise, is more heat than light and is really not going to help us as we progress through Brexit."

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