It’s no surprise Spain has already blocked Nicola Sturgeon’s half-baked Brexit plan

It should come as no surprise that the Spanish government has so swiftly rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s proposal of a bespoke Brexit deal for Scotland. Although Spain might have finally ended its ten month political freeze a couple of months ago, the febrile issue of Catalonian independence remains unresolved. Far from quietening down or going away, the secessionist movement in Barcelona is becoming more aggressive and radical. As it does so, the central government in Madrid adopts tougher measures to try and suppress it including, last week, another ruling by its constitutional court against a referendum on the region’s independence. Mariano Rajoy’s administration was never going to agree to a deal for Scotland that would give Catalonian separatists an example to follow or a hero to emulate.

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Matthew Lynn

Spain will regret its 100 per cent expat property tax

Sturgeon’s key proposal – that Scotland be allowed to remain in the Single Market post-Brexit, even if the rest of the UK leaves – spells danger for the Spanish government for one very simple reason: it would acknowledge Scotland as a separate entity, entitled to its own laws and to negotiate as an autonomous nation.