FILE PHOTO: Spain's Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis addresses a conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said on Monday that he was a little surprised by the tone coming out of Britain over Gibraltar and called for calm.

“The Spanish government is a little surprised by the tone of comments coming out of Britain, a country known for its composure,” Dastis said during a conference in Madrid.

A former leader of UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative party, Michael Howard, said she would even be prepared to go to war to defend the territory, as Britain did with Argentina over the Falkland Islands 35 years ago.

The European Union proposed on Friday offering Spain a right of veto over Gibraltar’s future trade relations with the bloc.