Rajoy has a cunning plan

Humphrey Carter18/02/2017 00:00

Spanish centre-right prime minister (in minority), Mariano Rajoy, has already been knocked back by the new US president. Once Trump got round to dialling Spain, Rajoy expressed how influential Spain could be in acting as a bridge between the United States and South America and even Europe.

But Trump was having none of that - as we are seeing, he makes the decisions. He wears the trousers in the White House, unlike some of his predecessors, and has so far managed to keep them on and belted up tight. So, "Mariano Baldrick" Rajoy has come up with another cunning plan which he hopes this time will work.

He has announced that Spain will seek a deal for expatriates post-Brexit - but wants joint-sovereignty for Gibraltar in return. Rajoy says he thinks a deal can quickly be worked out with Britain to defend the rights of British expats in Spain after Brexit.

"I am absolutely convinced that we will reach an agreement so that these people will not be affected by political decisions," Rajoy said this week.

"I hope that we will soon be able to tell them: don’t worry, nothing is going to change for the Spaniards in the UK, nor for the Britons in Spain. Last year 17 million Britons came to Spain, and we want that to continue. They like it, and so do we." Rajoy also reiterated that he would use Brexit to renegotiate with London on the status of Gibraltar. Don’t think so.