BBC News Online: World: Europe

Spain and Britain agree Gibraltar talks

Britain and Spain have agreed to resume formal talks on resolving their dispute over the British colony of Gibraltar.

The decision was announced by the Spanish foreign minister, Josep Pique, after a meeting in London with his British counterpart, Jack Straw.

Talks were broken off four years ago.

The two men will meet in a few months to talk about the future of Gibraltar, a rocky outcrop on the tip of southern Spain that Madrid has been trying to regain since its capture by Britain nearly 300 years ago.

Spain submitted proposals in 1997 for a period of joint sovereignty for at least 50 years, followed by autonomy within Spain.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service