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Spain says Madrid and London reached an agreement on Gibraltar

Wednesday, November 6th 2013 - 02:10 UTC
Full article 17 comments
Garcia-Margallo said: “now we have begun to put the toothpaste back in the tube” Garcia-Margallo said: “now we have begun to put the toothpaste back in the tube”

Spain and Britain have crafted a joint declaration on Gibraltar for presentation to the UN General Assembly, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Tuesday. The text calls for Madrid and London to reach a definitive solution to the status of the Rock, “listening to the interests and aspirations of Gibraltar that are coherent and legitimate in accord with international law,” Spain's top diplomat said.

 The parties expect to see the declaration become a UN General Assembly resolution.

A territory of 6.5 sq km at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar has been held by Britain since 1704 and became a British Crown Colony in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht.

Madrid says Gibraltar should be reincorporated into Spain, an outcome Gibraltarians have rejected overwhelmingly in referendums, while Britain maintains that the views of the Rock's residents must be taken into account.

On taking office, the current conservative government in Madrid repudiated the 2004-2012 Socialist administration's policy toward Gibraltar, which revolved around a tripartite forum that placed the Gibraltarians on equal juridical footing with Spain and Britain.

That forum “no longer exists and should be replaced by a new mechanism of local cooperation,” Garcia-Margallo said on Tuesday. “Now we have begun to put the toothpaste back in the tube.”

The joint declaration envisions the creation of ad hoc groups to deal with specific issues, he said. Those groups will include representatives of Spain, Britain, Gibraltar and the neighboring southern Spanish region of Andalusia, according to the foreign minister.

Tension between Madrid and London over Gibraltar flared in July when the local administration on the Rock dropped 70 concrete blocks into the Mediterranean with the aim of forming an artificial reef.

The reef project violates the European Union's environmental regulations and threatens the livelihoods of Spanish fishermen, according to Madrid, which retaliated imposing new border checks that have led to hours-long waits for people entering and leaving Gibraltar.

Categories: Politics, International.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules
  • Anglotino

    Independence is legitimate in accordance with international law.

    Did Spain shoot itself in the foot AGAIN?

    Nov 06th, 2013 - 02:39 am 0
  • agent999

    UN Fourth Committee produces convoluted draft ‘decision’ for Gibraltar talks

    http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=31355

    The same old story

    Nov 06th, 2013 - 08:11 am 0
  • Monkeymagic

    At least Gibraltar is close to Spain when they play the territorial integrity card, not 300 miles away from current Spain or 1000 miles away from where Spain was when the British arrived.

    Nobody would be pathetic enough to play territorial inegrity then surely...lol

    Nov 06th, 2013 - 08:31 am 0
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