When a few days ago the plane carrying Princess Anne of England and former British Prime Minister Theresa May to visit Gibraltar, where they were to take part in a literary festival, was diverted to Malaga due to fog, there was a diplomatic frenzy to ensure that the king’s sister and former head of government would have no problem entering British territory from Spanish territory, especially after Spanish authorities tightened border controls in recent days. To avoid this kind of tension, but above all to make life easier for the thousands of Spanish workers entering and leaving Gibraltar, Madrid is putting pressure on London every day to reach an agreement – ideally today – that will tie the last loose end solves. due to Brexit in this 6.8 km2 area that has been under British sovereignty since 1713.
The wish was expressed by the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, who yesterday met with his British counterpart David Cameron, on the sidelines of a summit of the heads of diplomacy of the NATO countries in Brussels.
This moment is one of certain enthusiasm after months of frozen negotiations, partly also due to the political uncertainty in Spain, where Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s Popular Party could not gain the support to form a government after its victory in the July 23 elections. to shape. The king has transferred responsibility to current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who last week managed to be appointed for a new term.
“A few months ago we put a generous and balanced agreement on the table, which will be the starting point. What Spain wants is for this agreement to be signed tomorrow. [hoje]”, said Albares in an interview with Telecinco.
But yesterday the The guard and Efe already revealed some details of the agreement. According to the Spanish news agency, the document lays out plans to turn Campo de Gibraltar, Spain’s area around the Rock, into a “zone of shared prosperity”. This would mean the removal of the border barrier to allow the free movement of people and goods between British territory and the European Union. It is estimated that 30,000 people cross La Verja, as the border between Spain and Gibraltar is known, every day, with more than a third of these Spaniards coming from Campo de Gibraltar, a region where unemployment still stands at 30%. An additional reason for Spain and Great Britain to find a pragmatic solution for coexistence. Even if the threat of “No deal‘ is still fresh in everyone’s memory.
According to Albares, the aim is to create a new post-Brexit legal framework that “lays the foundation for a stable relationship between Spain and the EU, on the one hand, and the territory of Gibraltar, through the United Kingdom, on the other. .”
According to the Spanish Foreign Ministry, the agreement would allow Spain to use the Schengen agreement to control Gibraltar’s external borders. In addition to strengthening the freedom of movement of people and goods, the document also includes steps to control money laundering and ensure environmental protection and nuclear safety standards. “The main objective is to defend and protect the interests and rights” of Spanish citizens – in particular the 270,000 people living in Campo de Gibraltar, said José Manuel Albares.
Make La Verja more flexible, as the Spanish daily explained La Razon, would imply that Gibraltar’s port and airport would be considered the EU’s external border, but this would require Spanish agents there, as representatives of a Schengen area country. The agreement presented by Madrid stipulates that Spain will receive support from the European border agency Frontex in this task for a transitional period of four years.
After London and Brussels agreed on the Northern Ireland Protocol last February, the Gibraltar issue now appears to be the only loose end left by Britain’s departure from the EU. Brexit took place on January 31, 2020 at 11 p.m., ending a long and not always easy process that began with the referendum on June 23, 2016, in which the majority of Britons preferred to leave. Interestingly, a referendum was organized by then Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. Just like now, as Rishi Sunak’s newly installed head of diplomacy, he must negotiate with Madrid about the status of Gibraltar. An area that voted by 96% in the referendum to remain in the Union, in contrast to the result in the British Isles.
If an agreement is reached now, it will be up to Fabian Picardo, the Labor member who has been Gibraltar’s prime minister since 2015 and was re-elected for a third term last October, to ‘sell’ it to the just over 32,000 residents . inhabitants of the rock.
Tension since the 18th century
Spain ceded Gibraltar to the British crown in 1713 under the Peace of Utrecht, but has never stopped claiming its sovereignty since, leading to regular border friction and diplomatic tensions between Madrid and London. The highest point of tension between the two countries occurred in 1969, when the regime of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco closed the border between that British territory and Spain, which was not fully reopened until 1985.
In 2002, Gibraltarians voted 99% in favor of remaining under British sovereignty, in a referendum that Spain did not recognize.
Source: DN
