David Cameron ‘seriously concerned’ over Gibraltar dispute with Spain

August 5th, 2013

Peter Nolan

Earlier on Monday, the British territory’s chief minister accused Spain of
acting like North
Korea and “sabre rattling” over the continuing dispute.

Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, said that Jose
Garcia-Margallo, Spanish foreign minister, was acting like General Franco,
the former dictator.

Mr Picardo said “hell will freeze over” before the authorities in
Gibraltar remove an artificial reef that Madrid claims is harming Spanish
fishermen, adding that any border costs would violate European Union freedom
of movement rules.

Spain is also considering closing its airspace to flights heading to the Rock.
Mr Picardo claimed such a move would be dangerous and said it was the “politics
of madness”.

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “What we have seen this weekend
is sabre-rattling of the sort that we haven’t seen for some time.

“The things that Mr Garcia-Margallo has said are more reminiscent of the
type of statement you’d hear from North Korea than from an EU partner.

“We’ve seen it before during Franco’s time during the 1960s but I think
all of us hoped that those politics were never going to come back and that
the much more enlightened politics of Mr Moratinos [Miguel Angel Moratinos],
who was the previous but one foreign minister of Spain, would prevail, which
talked about people working together and creating economic benefits for the
citizens on both sides of the frontier rather than the belligerence we are
seeing now.”

Mr Garcia-Margallo said: “The party is over,” as he unveiled the proposals,
that include:

Introducing a 50-euro tax to enter or leave Gibraltar, bringing in money that
could be used to help Spanish fisherman who had suffered from Gibraltar’s
new reef;

Stopping at the frontier any deliveries of concrete or other materials
required to build the reef;

Closing Spanish airspace to restrict some flights;

Reforming online gambling laws to oblige Gibraltar to use Spanish servers if
it wants to operate in Spain, allowing Madrid to rake in taxes. Gibraltar is
home to several large online gambling firms.

Spain’s main opposition party, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE),
criticised what it said was “an escalation of bravado” between the
governments of Spain and Gibraltar.

The Labour Party accused Spain of trying to score political points over
Gibraltar, which has a population of 30,000 and relies on tourism, the
gambling industry and offshore banking.

“They appear to be using the prospect of a transit fee as a bargaining chip
with the UK. This is simply unacceptable,” Labour foreign affairs spokesman
Kerry McCarthy said.

The
latest tensions between Spain and the British territory began 10 days ago
after Gibraltar boats began dumping blocks of concrete into the sea near the
territory.

Gibraltar said it was creating an artificial reef that would improve fish
stocks, which it maintains have been depleted by incursions by Spanish
fishermen.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has made clear that the
UK Government will meet its constitutional commitments to the people of
Gibraltar and will not compromise on sovereignty.

“Our differences with Spain on Gibraltar will be resolved by political means
through our relationship as EU partners, not through disproportionate
measures such as the border delays we have seen over the past week. We have
many common interests with Spain and wish to continue to have a strong
relationship at every level with the Government of Spain.”

The spokesman made clear that Britain expects Madrid to live up to the
commitments it made in the 2006 Cordoba Agreement, which included deals on
issues like border crossings and access for flights, as well as establishing
a tripartite forum for regular dialogue between Britain, Spain and
Gibraltar.

Spain claims sovereignty over the strategic outpost, which stands on the
southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula but has been a British Overseas
Territory since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Source Article from http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568301/s/2f9297a7/sc/11/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cworldnews0Ceurope0Cspain0C10A2230A650CDavid0ECameron0Eseriously0Econcerned0Eover0EGibraltar0Edispute0Ewith0ESpain0Bhtml/story01.htm