"Brexit is bad news for Europe but a no-deal Brexit would be the worst news. So everyone should agree in order for the deal to be made. It has been clear from the very beginning that everyone should respect the red lines drawn by this or that country … Spain has been raising the Gibraltar issue from the beginning. It remained and will remain a fundamental issue for [Madrid]," Costa said at a joint press conference with Sanchez.
The Portuguese prime minister warned against hard Brexit, saying that such an outcome would damage EU citizens living in the United Kingdom and UK nationals living in the bloc.
On Wednesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country would veto the draft Brexit agreement, stating that one of its articles threatened Madrid’s ability to negotiate the future of the disputed Gibraltar Peninsula with London.
The provisional deal includes a protocol on Gibraltar, the territory disputed between Spain and the United Kingdom and the only British Overseas Territory which is the part of the European Union.
At the 2016 Brexit referendum, the region overwhelmingly voted to remain in the bloc.