Aznar snubs Tory leader over stance on Gibraltar

The Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar has called off a meeting with the Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith because of his party's hardline stance over Gibraltar.

Mr Duncan Smith had been due to meet Mr Aznar for an hour today in Madrid as part of a three-day European tour, followed by a visit to the Rock a day later. But the Spanish have told the Conservatives he would not be welcome unless he toned down his opposition to any deal with Spain over the British colony.

Mr Duncan Smith, who has been fiercely critical of the Government's talks with Spain over Gibraltar, said he would not back down and the meeting was cancelled.

As a result, the Tories called off the Spanish leg of their visit which was to have included a visit to a hospital and a meeting with the country's deputy health minister. "The invitation to Spain has been withdrawn," said a spokesman for Conservative Central Office.

Mr Duncan Smith will continue with the visit to Gibraltar on Tuesday, followed by fact-finding trips to Portugal and France on Wednesday to see how their health services work.

Tony Blair has struck up a close alliance with the centre-right Mr Aznar in the European Union but talks between the two countries over establishing some form of sovereignty over Gibraltar have run into difficulty. The leaders have resolved to reach a conclusion by the summer but a meeting at Downing Street last week failed to break the deadlock.

They insisted talks had not broken down despite a significant gap between the two countries over Spain's refusal to renounce its historic claim if joint-sovereignty is agreed and Britain's determination to retain its military base there.

Britain has also said that any agreement would have to be approved by the people of Gibraltar in a referendum and they are fiercely opposed to any surrender of sovereignty to Spain.