The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has expressed this Friday to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, his "concern about the income disparity" between the Andalusian municipalities bordering Gibraltar and the British colony, and the impact of British taxation on this disparity, as well as "the problem" it poses for the municipalities in the Campo de Gibraltar area "to coexist with a borderless tax haven under current conditions."
These are considerations that Moreno has conveyed to Albares during a phone conversation they had the day after the negotiations between Spain and the United Kingdom over Gibraltar, which concluded without an agreement in a meeting held in Brussels on Thursday.
During a twenty-minute conversation, which government sources in Andalusia described to Europa Press as "cordial and constructive," the Andalusian president personally explained to the Foreign Minister "the concerns" that Moreno has been publicly raising, the latest occasion being this Thursday in the Plenary of the Andalusian Parliament.
In the parliamentary control session to the Government, the Andalusian president invoked the provisions of the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia in its Article 240 on Treaties and agreements, stating that the Junta de Andalucía must receive prior information on international negotiations affecting its competencies, as well as the possibility of being present in the negotiating delegation.
The Andalusian government has assured that Moreno outlined to Albares aspects that, in his view, should be included in those negotiations, such as "the situation of the workers," in addition to other issues like environmental concerns, including the need for wastewater treatment in Gibraltar or land reclamation.
On Thursday, a meeting was held in Brussels attended by Minister Albares himself, as well as the Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the matter, Maros Sefcovic, and his British counterpart, David Cameron, with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, also present.
Albares stated in an interview with Televisión Española on Friday, which Europa Press followed, that the meeting allowed addressing "very important" issues for Spain in environmental matters and "we were also able to make progress and bring positions closer on all that pertains to the social development of Campo de Gibraltar."
The minister did not want to go into details about the negotiation and assured that there is no "insurmountable obstacle" and that the parties are not "clashing head-on," although he admitted that "there is still work to be done regarding the guarantees we want for the application of Schengen controls, the customs area, and also on the harmonization of indirect taxes."