BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Spain will seek talks on joint sovereignty of Gibraltar once Britain has left the European Union, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday, adding he had told his British counterpart he wanted to resolve the 300-year-old dispute.

Speaking after an EU leaders’ summit, Sanchez said Spain’s position over Gibraltar, a British territory since 1713, was stronger after the agreement of a Brexit deal on Sunday because Spanish policy effectively became EU policy.

“We are going to resolve a conflict that has been going for over 300 years,” Sanchez told a news conference, adding he had said the same thing privately to British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Asked if he would seek a discussion over joint sovereignty once Britain leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019, he said: “We will discuss all issues.”

The small peninsula attached to Spain is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations. Spain has long claimed sovereignty.

Gibraltar is due to leave the EU along with the United Kingdom, even though 96 percent of its population voted in the 2016 referendum to remain in the EU.

“This puts Spain in a position of strength in negotiations with the United Kingdom over Gibraltar that we have not had until now,” Sanchez told reporters after the summit.

He was referring to a 1986 agreement when Spain joined the bloc and had to adapt its Gibraltar policy to British policy within the EU. He said that situation was now being reversed.

“We all lose (with Brexit), especially the United Kingdom, but regarding Gibraltar, Spain wins,” he said.

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