A Downing Street spokesperson said:
The Prime Minister spoke to the new Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, earlier today.
The Prime Minister congratulated Prime Minister Sánchez on his new role, noting that Spain was a close ally and that we shared a long history of friendship and co-operation. She said we look forward to continuing our work together across the full range of our common interests and objectives, including our close security cooperation and commercial ties.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to the Spanish victim of last year’s London Bridge attack, Ignacio Echeverría. They agreed that his efforts to save others during the attack were truly heroic.
The Prime Minister said the UK was leaving the EU but not Europe, and our relationships with the EU and member states would always be extremely important to us. They agreed on the importance of protecting the rights of Spanish people in the UK as well as the many UK citizens in Spain.
On Gibraltar, the Prime Minister said the UK would continue to engage constructively with the Government of Gibraltar and the Spanish Government, to address issues arising from the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
They looked forward to meeting at the June European Council.
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