MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK/Spain annual Tertulias Forum takes off in Oxford; Gibraltar expected to be addressed

Europe minister Lidington and Spain's Foreign minister García-Margallo are scheduled to attend

Britain’s Europe Minister, David Lidington, and Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo are attending a top-level Anglo-Hispanic forum that starts this week in Oxford. The annual British-Spanish Tertulias Forum brings together senior ministers, parliamentarians, academics, business leaders, scientists and artists from both countries to discuss topical issues.

 No details of the meeting’s agenda have been made public, but recent developments make it probable that issues relating to Gibraltar will be raised during the event, even if only during informal discussions.

The Tertulias Forum comes at the end of a week of high tension in the relations between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar. A serious 22-hour incursion by a Spanish research ship a week ago prompted the UK to summon Spain’s ambassador to London, Federico Trillo, for a ticking off about the incident.

There have also been intense debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords during which British MPs and peers from across the political spectrum voiced anger and concern at Spanish actions targeting Gibraltar.

Both the British and Spanish governments have repeatedly stated that they enjoy close bilateral relations. But Britain has also left no doubt that it will continue to
stand by Gibraltar in the face of Spanish aggression, while Spain has made clear that it will continue to pile pressure on the Rock over allegations of smuggling, tax evasion and environmental damage.

The discussions at the forum this weekend will no doubt focus on far wider issues of greater importance to the UK and Spain, including the European economy and prospects for recovery but the events of the past week and recent months will mean that the impact of Gibraltar on Anglo-Hispanic relations will figure somewhere in the conversation.

Gibraltar in fact was the spark that led to the creation of the Tertulias Forum, an annual event established in 1988 to bring together hand-picked influential decision makers from the UK and Spain. Luis Linde, the Governor of the Bank of Spain, referred to this during a speech at the opening of the 25th edition of the forum last year.

“Almost a quarter of a century back, following the visit by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to Madrid in 1988, a group of Spanish and British diplomats, politicians, academics and civil servants had an excellent idea,” he told the meeting.

“They took advantage of the Gibraltar dispute not to further cool relations between Spain and the United Kingdom, or to squabble some more, but rather to seek to be closer friends and try and understand one another better.”

“Today, Spain is no doubt much better known in the United Kingdom…as it is also the case for the United Kingdom being better known in Spain,” he said.

“While these Tertulias are usually an opportunity to overcome some of these problems, they most importantly allow us to understand our respective stances on current, important or pressing issues.”

British participants share a similar view of the event, as was made clear by former Labor minister Denis MacShane in 2009 and a former chairman of the Tertulias.

”A vital vehicle for addressing high-level issues, providing leading business figures, politicians and scientists from Britain and Spain with the chance to debate international relations and vital topics such as climate change, European policies and global challenges”, said MacShane.

The current British chair of the Tertulias Forum is the Tory MP James Arbuthnot, who is also the Chairman of the Defense Select Committee in the House of Commons.