Spain has said it would not "initially" veto an attempt by an independent Scotland to join the European Union after Britain has left the bloc, its foreign minister said in interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Spain has long been seen as an obstacle to an independent Scotland joining the EU to deter separatists in some of its own regions.
"Initially, I don't think we would block it," Alfonso Dastis said in an interview published today.
However, he added Scotland would leave the EU with Britain, "the rest we will see."
He also said Spain did not welcome fragmentation of the European family.
"Having said that, if, in application of its laws, the outcome of that process is a division of the United Kingdom, any part of the United Kingdom that becomes a state and wants to join the EU will have to apply. And follow the steps that are stipulated".
Members of the Scottish Parliament voted by 69 to 59 during the week in favour of seeking permission for an independence referendum to take place between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.
Following that a letter from Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon formally requesting transfer of powers to hold a second Scottish independence referendum was delivered to Downing Street.
The British government has said it will decline the request, with Mrs May repeatedly stating "now is not the time" for another vote on the issue.
