A senior Spanish MEP has voiced doubts that his country would support an independent Scotland's membership of the European Union.
Alejo Vidal-Quadras, European Parliament vice president and a Catalan MEP who opposes that region's independence, said that Spain along with France "will surely not" accept an independent Scotland, and the UK will "probably not" accept it either.
He also suggested that any negotiation around membership would take much longer than the Scottish Government suggests and accused Scottish ministers of lying over the need for Border controls with England.
Scottish ministers insist negotiations, including on opt-outs such as the euro and free travel zone, will be completed by 2016.
However, speaking in Strasbourg, Mr Quadras described that timescale as "pure fantasy" and denounced hopes of securing the opt-outs as "a dream".
When asked if states would accept an independent Scotland, he said: "France and Spain: surely not. The UK: probably not. Don't forget Spain has not yet recognised Kosovo."
"The most accepted opinion by the very experienced jurists of Europe is that legally the new state is not automatically a new EU member state but should start the long and cumbersome procedure of membership as a candidate."
He said the SNP were "not telling the truth to the Scottish people" on the EU's requirement for Border controls with England.
He said: "If we make a big effort of imagination and imagine a Scotland separated from the UK and a member of the EU, and Scotland is in Schengen (a passport free travel area) and the UK is not, then there will of course be a border between both countries, with border controls and everything."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish and UK Governments have agreed the process by which independence would be achieved and there is no question of the UK failing to respect the democratic right of the Scottish people to choose their future."
He said there was no mechanism to remove EU citizenship from Scots, that Scotland would keep the pound, and would stay part of the common travel area with the UK and Ireland, which predates Schengen and ensures passport free travel within the British Isles.
He added: "The Scottish Government's proposed 18-month transition timescale to independence has been described as 'realistic' by one of the UK Government's own chosen experts."
Scottish Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon said: "These comments show just how difficult negotiations could be, and any one of the other member states could pull the plug during talks."
Scottish Labour MEP Catherine Stihler said: "Quadras's statement that France, Spain, and in fact the UK, would not accept an independent Scotland into the EU is a devastating blow to the SNP's grand plan."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article