But Gibraltar did have an influence on those visits. The King of Spain did not visit the UK until the Governments reached an agreement to negotiate about Gibraltar’s future, including sovereignty. That’s why the UK was the last European Monarchy to pay a State Visit since the beginning of his reign.
Very interesting about the state visit. I presume that, when such an invitation is issued by one monarch to another, the arrangements have already been negotiated and confirmed by the respective countries' foreign ministries? In other words, we definitely have such a state visit to look forward to. It's been quite a while since the 1988 visit of Elizabeth II, and rather surprising that that was the only one she made to Spain.
I'm guessing the Gibraltar issue has been the main reason for the previous lack of state visits between the two countries.
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