Britain's Foreign Secretary's arrival and departure flights into Gibraltar last week were not allowed to overfly Spanish territory and flew over Portugal instead. This was one of several hostility incidents of Spanish officials towards London. The overfly ban was confirmed to Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation by the Convent (Governor's residence in the Rock).
Spain's King Felipe VI signed the decree dissolving parliament following December's inconclusive general election. As no political parties were able to coalesce their support into a coalition government in time for the deadline, new elections will be held on June 26.
Spain will hold a repeat of national elections in June following the failure of a last-ditch effort by King Felipe VI to prod bickering Spanish politicians to form a new government. The King chose not to ask any candidates he interviewed this week to try to form a government and break a stalemate that has left Spain with a caretaker government in the wake of inconclusive elections in December.
The British Ambassador to Madrid has defended Gibraltar against attempts by the Spanish Foreign Minister to portray Gibraltar as a tax haven. In a letter published in El País Simon Manley says Jose Manuel García-Margallo is mistaken in his view, pointing out that Gibraltar has taken important steps to ensure that its tax system is open and fair.
Gibraltar and Falkland Islands flatly deny any “colonial situations” as was referred to by the foreign ministers of Spain and Argentina, and regret profoundly that two large countries with democratic credentials “seek to gang up to bully two very small territories and in the process completely ignore the right of their people to choose what they want to be”.
Argentina and Spain have decided to re-launch bilateral mechanisms that have been “asleep” for too long, promoting political and trade relations, said Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra who on Monday met with her visiting Spanish peer, Jose Manuel García/Margallo.
Spain’s Socialist party would continue to advocate “dialogue and friendship” with Gibraltar even if the UK voted to leave the European Union, the PSOE’s MP for Cádiz said during a visit to the Rock.
The caretaker Spanish Foreign Secretary, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, has declared that he will bring up the question of Gibraltar ‘the very next day’ if the UK votes to leave the European Union on 23rd June. The interview has been described by the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo as an example of why it's so much more important for Gibraltar to remain in Europe.
Britain has protested to Spain after a Spanish warship “manoeuvred dangerously” during an incursion into British Gibraltar territorial waters, risking collision with a Royal Navy patrol boat.
A group of Spanish scientists has analyzed for the first time the European and veined squid diet in the Mediterranean. European squid (Loligo vulgaris) and veined squid (Loligo forbesii) are two morphologically nearly identical species that inhabit the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.