Spanish FM: UK would suffer more in no-deal Brexit

Spain's foreign minister on Sunday said that a post-Brexit no-deal scenario "is something that we should try to avoid at all costs", while adding that "the UK would suffer even more than the European Union."

Speaking to British braodcaster Sky News, Arancha González said that "no-deal in the current circumstances would be extremely negative for our economies."

A no-deal split would bring overnight tariffs and other barriers that would hurt both sides, although most economists think the smaller British economy would take a greater hit because the U.K. does almost half of its trade with the bloc.

While both sides want a deal on the terms of a new relationship, they have fundamentally different views of what it entails.

The EU fears Britain will slash social and environmental standards and pump state money into U.K. industries, becoming a low-regulation economic rival on the bloc’s doorstep, so is demanding strict “level playing field” guarantees in exchange for access to its markets.

The U.K. government claims the EU is trying to bind Britain to the bloc’s rules and regulations indefinitely, rather than treating it as an independent nation.

González said that "trade deals are not made to" establish "countries' sovereignty", but "to manage interdependence" between souvereign countries.

She also acknowledged the ongoing "disagreement between the UK and Spain on sovereignty over Gibraltar", saying it was "our duty is to find a deal that would help build this area of shared prosperity around Gibraltar".

In the U.K.'s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in the speck of British territory on Spain's southern tip supported remaining in the EU. And Gibraltar's economy relies heavily on connections to the EU and Spain.

The territory was ceded to Britain in 1713 but Spain still claims sovereignty over it.