Brexit: European press reacts to Theresa May speech

European newspapers have responded to Theresa May's speech setting out her priorities as she negotiates the UK's exit from the European Union (EU).

Theresa May delivers a key Brexit speech at Lancaster House, London, about Britain and the EU. The widely leaked speech set out the Prime Minister's intention to prioritise control on immigration and an exit from the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The Prime Minister confirmed on Tuesday that Britain would quit the single market and warned she would walk away from exit talks rather than accept a “punitive” deal.

The front page of German national daily Die Welt features Mrs May’s torso with a Union flag in the background, and the words “Little Britain” below.

She is pictured wearing a blue checked blazer and white shirt with matching red lipstick and nail varnish - a nod to her previous “red, white and blue” Brexit reference.

Italian daily La Repubblica leads with the headline, “Brexit, London gets its wall, ‘away from the EU and the common market’”.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais does not top with Brexit, but there is a mention of Mrs May’s speech in the top right of the title page.

It references the Prime Minister’s announcement that Britain will leave the single market, adding that Mrs May is hoping for a hard Brexit subject to Parliament’s vote.

It calls the announcement her “most important speech” since coming to Downing Street.