Senior members of the Spanish parliament's committee on the European Union have told BuzzFeed News that Spain will not seek to block Scotland from joining the EU if it becomes independent from the UK.

Spain has repeatedly been pointed to as a stumbling block for Nicola Sturgeon's ultimate goal of an independent Scotland joining the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA) on the basis that the government in Madrid would not allow anything that could boost the independence movement in Catalonia.

However, two members of Spain's joint committee on the EU told BuzzFeed News that those familiar with the two situations in Scotland and Catalonia are aware that they are totally different and the members could not foresee any reason why Spain would stop an independent Scotland joining the EU.

While the members do not speak for the Spanish government, the EU committee as a whole provides the government with advice on how to deal with issues within the EU such as how it implements European law into its national law and the approach it should take on new EU members.

Fernando Maura MEP, one of the committee's spokespeople, told BuzzFeed News the situations in Catalonia and Scotland are "very different" and, when asked if Spain would seek to block an independent Scotland from joining the EU, responded: "No, not at all."