The general election taking place in Spain on Sunday, 23 July, could shift the dial on the relationship between Gibraltar, Spain and the UK, with fears that certain outcomes could result in a harder line taken by Madrid on border issues.
Over the weekend, The Telegraph in the UK suggested that a return to power by Spanish conservatives could result in difficulty for the significant number of border crossings daily into Gibraltar, as this could delay a much touted post Brexit deal on creating a common travel area incorporating both jurisdictions.
Reuters has reported that "To secure a majority of the 350 seats that it needs to form a government, the PP would almost certainly have to ally with anti-immigration, anti-feminist Vox, a move that could give the far-right a role in government for the first time since the end of Francisco Franco's dictatorship in 1975."
The fears of such an outcome are being stoked by the record temperatures being experienced by Spain in the current heatwave hitting southern Europe, suggests the BBC, which adds that no general election has ever been held so late into the summer in the country, with some 10 million Spaniards on holiday.
The PP - the Popular Party - is in the hunt for a victory following local elections in May, in which the incumbent Socialists (PSOE) came second overall.
The issue of the border has been addressed both by manifestos and comments from the parties vying to win the election. The Gibraltar Chronicle has reported Spain's minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, a Socialist, suggesting that a change of government in Madrid would "end the dialogue that has underpinned efforts to reach a UK/EU treaty for the Rock's future and ensured relative normality at the border despite Brexit".
Elsewhere, the outcome will also be tracked for its possible impact on the agenda of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union - which was taken over by Spain on 1 July, running to 31 December.
