What has the Gibraltar Government said about the Spanish election?

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The Gibraltar Government's position is that the treaty is now in place, subject to ratification, and that it is in every party's interest to keep a cordial and positive relationship with whichever government Spain elects. The Chief Minister has said that what matters most is who becomes Spain's foreign minister.
The Gibraltar Government negotiated the 2026 UK/EU Treaty in relation to Gibraltar alongside the United Kingdom. The UK Government has committed that, other than in the most exceptional circumstances, it will not terminate the treaty without the support of a majority of the Gibraltar Parliament or a referendum in Gibraltar. What Gibraltar's government says about a change of government in Madrid is therefore part of the treaty's story. Its public record, in date order, is as follows.
Thursday 26 February 2026: on the publication of the treaty text, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told the Gibraltar Parliament that the treaty was not perfect, but that its terms were those that were negotiable and deliverable for all sides, and that it does not affect British sovereignty.
Friday 6 March 2026: the Gibraltar Parliament, with the support of the Government and the Opposition, unanimously called on the UK to ratify the treaty.
Sunday 21 June 2026: asked by Spanish journalists whether a future government involving the PP and Vox might seek to suspend the treaty, the Chief Minister said that every agreement must contain an exit clause, but that the parties had not entered this one planning how to leave it, and that any politician who tried to bring less fluidity and less shared prosperity would be foolish. He described relations between the Spanish and Gibraltar governments as the best there had been.
Wednesday 7 October 2026: after the election was called, the Chief Minister said that whatever government Spain elects, including any form of coalition, what matters most is the character and identity of the person who becomes Spain's foreign minister. He contrasted two PP foreign ministers, José Manuel García-Margallo and Alfonso Dastis, saying that Mr Dastis, a career diplomat, had approached Gibraltar diplomatically. He said that, with the treaty in existence and subject to ratification, it is in the interest of all parties to have a cordial and positive relationship, and that election manifestos set out how politicians intend to make people's lives better.
Friday 16 October 2026: the Chief Minister responded to Miriam González Durántez, president of Democracia 21, a new party that plans to stand in Madrid and Barcelona in the election, who had said in a television interview broadcast on Tuesday 13 October 2026 that Gibraltar is Spanish. He said her comments were unsurprising but disappointing from someone launching a party with democracy in its name, that the only relevant position for a democrat is the freely expressed wish of the people of the territories on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories, and that her husband, Sir Nick Clegg, has long supported the right of the people of Gibraltar to self-determination.
In the sources reviewed, the Gibraltar Government has not said that it would seek any change to the treaty in the event of a new Spanish government. Statements are attributed to the office holder at the time.

What has the Gibraltar Government said about the Spanish election?

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The Gibraltar Government's record

What the Gibraltar Government has not said

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