MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Spain must act intelligently in its approach to Gibraltar, says foreign minister
Spain’s Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, said that he believed Gibraltar should be Spanish, though he added Spain must be intelligent in its approach to the Rock. He was speaking during a wide-ranging interview on the morning politics show Los Desayunos, on state broadcaster TVE1. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rules“Alfonso Dastis, said that he believed Gibraltar should be Spanish”
Feb 10th, 2017 - 11:53 am - Link - Report abuse +4and I believe that Ceuta and Melilla should be Moroccan!!!
Mr. Darragh...
Feb 10th, 2017 - 12:16 pm - Link - Report abuse -4You are absolutely right...
Ceuta & Melilla should be Moroccan. (Respecting, of course, the interests of their current inhabitants)
Gibraltar should be Spanish. (Respecting, of course, the interests of their current inhabitants)
The Malvinas should be Argeninean. (Respecting, of course, the interests of their current inhabitants)
Always a pleasure making deals with a paddy...
Kind regards...
El Think.
“Spain must act intelligently in its approach to Gibraltar, says foreign minister”
Feb 10th, 2017 - 12:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I guess that nixes their approach entirely. It's rather like asking the argentines to act intelligently, or expecting pigs to fly.
Gave you a bit of an in there didn't I Think
Feb 10th, 2017 - 01:37 pm - Link - Report abuse +6I'll make my position more clear:-
I believe that Gibraltar belongs to those who live there - it's called self determination.
I believe that the Falkland Islands belong to those who live there - it's called self determination.
I believe that Ceuta and Melilla belong to those who live there - it's called self determination.
Spain's opinions just like Argentina's have no bearing on the case.
Hope that's clear.
Please don't refer to me as Paddy or a Paddy, I find it arrogant and racist.
Kind regards.
Spain has NO intelligence to start with.
Feb 10th, 2017 - 02:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0My dear Irish Darragh...
Feb 10th, 2017 - 02:55 pm - Link - Report abuse -4So..., why do you tell porkies to begin with?
Ha ha. Spain acting intelligently -
Feb 10th, 2017 - 03:28 pm - Link - Report abuse +2Spanish Guardia Civil vessel Rio Cedena twice tried to disrupt the visit by ballistic missile sub USS Florida as it was approaching the British Overseas Territory on the southern tip of Spain.
According to the Sun, the incident has caused outrage among senior officials in Gibraltar with one 'top source' saying: 'This is not only a very dangerous game for the Spanish to play but it is unbecoming of a NATO ally to treat the US Navy with such contempt.'
(Daily Mail 6 May 2016)
The Spanish claim that Gibraltar has no territorial waters. Perhaps they are wrong:
Gibraltar – Territorial Waters:-
https://www.academia.edu/30105020/Gibraltar_Territorial_Waters
Think and other Argentines have such tiny brains that they can only Think in terms of Georaphic location as to whom territories actually belong to.
Feb 10th, 2017 - 04:13 pm - Link - Report abuse +3This is inconsistent because they inhabit a territory now occupied by genocidal squatters from various 'Club Med' countries several thousand miles away having largely wiped out the true inhabitants and stolen their lands.
This shows that Argentines are racist xenophobes of the worst kind.
Think - and what 'porkie' was that???
Feb 10th, 2017 - 04:48 pm - Link - Report abuse +2That I think Ceuta and Melilla etc etc - I was responding to a stupid statement from a Spanish 'politician' - I accept that I could have made my meaning more clear for those who wish to split hairs.
kind regards.
Think
Feb 10th, 2017 - 05:24 pm - Link - Report abuse +2”The Malvinas should be Argeninean. (Respecting, of course, the interests of their current inhabitants)”
WHY ?|
Mr. Darragh...
Feb 10th, 2017 - 06:41 pm - Link - Report abuse -1A porkie never the less...
Following your latest criteria..., I suppose that you are happy with the current situation in Crimea..., Tibet... and quite a few other invaded areas of the world...?
Mr. Clyde...
You ask...:
WHY
I say...:
Because them Kelpers are a jolly nice group of Anglos that fit well in Patagonia...
Salt of the Earth..., I'll dare to say...
Because them Kelpers are a jolly nice group of Anglos
Feb 10th, 2017 - 08:18 pm - Link - Report abuse +2Agreed..lol
And the two hundred or so shilenos on the islands, all of them anglos, too.
Feb 10th, 2017 - 10:18 pm - Link - Report abuse +3Now Think tries creeping… I mean slithering…
Feb 10th, 2017 - 10:26 pm - Link - Report abuse +3Think
Feb 11th, 2017 - 12:10 am - Link - Report abuse +3They fit perfectly into their OWN land -the FALKLANDS
Mr. Clyde15...
Feb 11th, 2017 - 12:33 am - Link - Report abuse -1As British Citizens..., it would be somehow strange if them Kelpers didn't fit in a so-called British Overseas Territory (Latest British euphemism for ”British Colony...)
https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nationality/british-overseas-territories-citizen...:
British citizenship
You automatically became a British citizen on 21 May 2002 if your British overseas territories citizenship was gained by connection with a qualifying territory.
The qualifying territories are:
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn Islands
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands...
I believe Catalonia should have an Independence referendum.
Feb 11th, 2017 - 12:25 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Tinkle seems to be characteristically confused, in suggesting that holding British citizenship necessarily makes someone “anglo.” Rather like thinking that holding an Argentine passport holder makes one Tehuelche.
Feb 11th, 2017 - 01:15 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Think
Feb 11th, 2017 - 05:56 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Why do you insist that the Falklands, S.Georgia and other sub-Antarctic islands are Argentinian? Where is your proof ?
I realise that I have started the magic roundabout by asking this.
@petebog “I believe Catalonia should have an Independence referendum.”
Feb 11th, 2017 - 07:35 pm - Link - Report abuse +1They had an independence referendum in 2014 in favour of independence but it was considered “consultative.”
Technically,
Feb 11th, 2017 - 08:40 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Surely Argentina belongs to the Falkland's,
did not islanders visit/land on argy soil before it existed as Argentina,
im sure at least one of them made a claim, but these crafty argies probably destroyed the evidence.
lolol
It wasn't a real referendum because the Spanish government wouldn't allow them to hold one. And the turnout and No vote were both so low it suggests the people opposed to independence refused to vote at all.
Feb 11th, 2017 - 08:47 pm - Link - Report abuse +1So we don't really know how people would vote if they held a real referendum, and the government of Spain are determined never to find out.
@Pete Bog
Do you believe Scotland should hold another independence referendum?
@DT Pots fotre el camp, of course it was a “ real referendum.” But it was consultative and not binding. You don't need a note from your stepmother to hold a consultative referendum.
Feb 11th, 2017 - 09:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0No 'rude or foul language' allowed, Marti.
Feb 11th, 2017 - 09:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The Brexit referendum wasn't binding, but it was a real referendum. The Catalan referendum was blocked by the Constitutional Court so they held an informal vote instead.
And whatever you call it, if people know their votes will not actually count then they won't necessarily vote the same way, or bother to vote at all, so the results cannot be considered representative. Ditto if the electoral process is not held to the same standard.
It looks like polls show slightly more people in favour of independence than against it, but still less than 50%. It will be interesting to see what happens with the new referendum planned for this year.
Demon Tree
Feb 13th, 2017 - 11:00 pm - Link - Report abuse +1I'll rephrase what I said -I believe Catalonia should have a BINDING referendum just as Scotland did. A Catalonian referendum without any binding authority isn't a proper referendum.
If Scotland want another referendum, I'm not against it. It's called self determination.
If they vote for independence these cold light of day facts will hit them.
1.If Scotland try to join the EU, they might not get accepted, and if they do, they won't be able to retrieve the fishing industry they lost. And if they are Independent, they're going to need it. Also Sturgeon thinks by staying in the E.U. there'll be lots of money from the E.U. But with the UK gone, that money isn't going to be coming from Italy, Greece, Spain, or most of Eastern Europe. Unless one of the E.U. members gets much richer, or a new member that matches the UK's contributions appears like magic out of thin air.
And how much E.U contributions are the E.U going to get from an Independent Scotland? What's the betting it's jack squit?
2. No Barnet formula
So to recap, if the Scottish people want another referendum, I'm not against it. Most Scottish people though, are not daft enough to vote for Independence unless there is a good chance of replacing the money the Barnet formula gives them.
I do think that the Scottish parliament should be allowed to run their part of the UK, but that no Scottish MPs should go to Westminster, which should be wholly an English Parliament.
@Pete Bog
Feb 13th, 2017 - 11:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Fair enough, I think Catalonia should probably have a referendum too.
But I don't share your confidence about Scotland. I think people may well decide to give up the money for independence, or they will be happy to believe anyone who tells them that they will actually be better off. And there will be people willing to tell them that.
As for having no Scottish MPs at Westminster, that would not work in the long term since Westminster would have to retain control of foreign policy and other shared issues. It would be better to turn the UK into a federal union like Germany so each country could have their own parliament, rather than the current lopsided system.
Pete Bog
Feb 17th, 2017 - 11:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0I have come to this topic a little late,
What you are inferring is that Scotland should have NO VOTE in the UK Parliament at Westminster...only English MP's would be allowed to sit and vote in matters which would affect the WHOLE of the UK..
So,the UK has for all intents and purposes broken up...no Welsh or N.Ireland MP's either.
England could decide Foreign relations and take the country to war without the other three parties having any say ?
“I do think that the Scottish parliament should be allowed to run their part of the UK,”
Our part of the UK holds the UK's nuclear deterrent so, if we have no say whatsoever in it's deployment, you can remove it south of the border as with the RAF base at Lossiemouth.
We would also make it clear that any military action by the UK...meaning England....has not been sanctioned by Scotland, Wales or N.Ireland, so leave us out of any retaliation.
I don't think you have thought this through !
D.T.
What you advocate is a more sensible solution.
@Clyde15
Feb 17th, 2017 - 07:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I agree, it would be absurd to have only English MPs voting on things that affect the whole UK. And I don't think banning Scottish etc MPs from voting on devolved matters is a workable long term solution either.
I actually think it would be better to keep the Westminster parliament as an English parliament and create a new (smaller!) Federal government which could sit in say Leeds or Manchester; somewhere more central for the whole country. It would help make things less London-centric and spread out development. Or another option would be to have a parliament for each region in England, since the population is so much higher. But people generally are not keen because of the extra cost and bureaucracy.
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