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First Spanish minister to visit Gibraltar for 300 years
Ed Harris21 Jul 2009
The first visit by a Spanish government minister to Gibraltar for more than 300 years was due to take place today.
Spain's foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos will meet Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Gibraltar's chief minister Peter Caruana for talks about the disputed territory.
It will be the first such Spanish visit since Britain captured the rocky peninsula in 1704. The landmark occasion — officially called a “Trilateral Forum of Dialogue” — was confirmed only at the last-minute after a fresh row broke out about the territorial waters around the rock.
Spain is reportedly using a European Commission environmental directive to officially denote the surrounding waters as Spanish.
The Gibraltar government, which has stipulated it wants to remain under British rule, is resisting the move. Britain will not hand the territory back against the wishes of its residents.
Mr Moratinos has said Madrid will always claim sovereignty over Gibraltar, which is home to about 28,000 people. He told The Times: “We are never going to renounce sovereignty of Gibraltar, ever, but I hope we can reach an agreement to resolve this.”
Father-of-six Mr Caruana, who has been chief minister since 1996, says his main political challenges come from “Spain's antiquated territorial claim”.
Reader views (12)
Since when did ANY Labour politician, national or local, give a toss about British people? Labourites care only for how much they can screw out of people to feather their own nests for as little effort from themselves as possible. The proof is there and you don't have to look that hard for it.
- Joannie, London, England, 21/07/2009 23:42
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Jj - simplistic retro thinking like that was what the Germans used for their initial land grabs prior to the declared hostilities of WWII. More recently, Saddam Hussein used the same rationale about Kuwait, for certain, and I believe, parts of Iran (although I could be mistaken about that without research). Little need be said about the Serbians actions since the fall of Yugoslavia.
You really should connect the dots before committing such drivel to public scrutiny.
- Rogan, Irving, 21/07/2009 17:41
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Confusion reigns; Gibraltar was passed to GB under the Treaty of Utrect in 17, something or other. Whilst there is an argument about the some of the land around the Rock, there can be no debate about Gibraltar per se. Relationships at a local level appear excellent ... see recent press. The problem arises when big important people get involved. The answers are simple 1. Time will sort it out, and 2 if you want it before that time has elapsed? Come and get it.
- Sam Dickins, London, 21/07/2009 14:28
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Frank you're dead right.
- Albert Hall, kettering, 21/07/2009 13:22
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Jj, London
"but when visiting Gibraltar earlier this year I felt ashamed"
Ashamed, oh you poor little luv, my heart bleeds for you.
What are you mumbling on about, or have the Spanish told you they are giving up other areas they control.
Like the canaries, parts of north morocco, majorca, palma, etc.
It's British and that is that.
- P Staker, London, 21/07/2009 12:22
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Er, Jj: yes - if it was entirely populated by people who wished to remain Spanish, Lands End in your theory would remain part of Spain. Or perhaps a more relevant example would be Northern Ireland wishing to remain British. I know it's ghastly for some people in Britain to admit, but outside of the UK there are a lot of people who admire it. Do you honestly give priority to increased Spanish fishing rights over the residents' right to self-determination on who governs and protects them?
Will you be giving chunks of Belgium away to France and Holland? The bit of Italy the other side of the mountain from me used to be French until very recently, maybe that should be grabbed back? The Channel Islands could become French - they're way closer to France than England. And of course Calais used to be English . . .
As for the European Commission thinking that the Vandals of the High Seas who run fish stocks to extinction should get to look after the marine environment . . . ?! Gibralter is a Listening Post: MI6 gets to listen to what the Spanish and their neighbours are doing - that, folks, is what is 'in it' for you.
- Roz, France, 21/07/2009 11:49
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Two points here:
1/. As mentioned already Spain claim two territories in Algeria, Ceuta and Melilla.
2/. Watch this Labour government sell out the British yet again and surrender Gibraltar without a blink of an eye.
The aim of this Labour government is to implement a scorched earth strategy for Britain before the next election. Sign away as much power to Europe, give away as much territory, implement devolution to Scotland and Wales and get the English to pay for it. Run up public debt, run down public services. Make it very difficult for the next government as possible to govern.
These rich socialists will simply walk away with gold plated pensions having landed the public with trillions in debt to pay out of their taxes and forcing people to work into their 70s because we cannot afford their pensions.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 21/07/2009 10:54
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They dig us about Gibralter, but just across the straits of Gibralter ,on the african mainland sits Ceuta and another place calles Melilla. The spanish claim both of these places ,although they are in Morocco. I wonder when the spanish intend to give these territories back to the moroccans? probably never. The spanish are hypocrites.
- Sean, London, 21/07/2009 10:16
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I think we should repatriate all British citizens and stop all flights to and from Spain, cut all ties completely, and if they still a want Gibraltar after that, "nuke them", this country is becoming to soft, and its time we showed some metal, Gibraltar is not up for discussion.
- David Crocket, Bradford , UK., 21/07/2009 10:02
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Spain has two enclaves in Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, which are as much a part of Spain as Gibraltar is British. There are still many of these colonial hangovers to resolve, but since we had the biggest empire the world has ever known its normal we have a few strategically positioned islands and alike all around the globe. Gibraltar is British, and should always be, or Spain owns and controls the Entrance to the Mediterranean.
- Jb, London, England, 21/07/2009 09:40
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I'm British and patriotic and visited Gibraltar a couple of years ago and I felt proud that the people who live there wanted to be linked to the UK. They are not British people living on what was Spanish soil, so Jj's comment doesn't hold water. It's called democracy.
- Paul, London, 21/07/2009 09:39
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I'm British and patriotic but when visiting Gibraltar earlier this year I felt ashamed. This is obviously part of Spain and should be handed back. What if the Spanish had captured Lands End three hundred years ago and there was now 30,000 Spanish living there, should it be part of Spain? Of course not.
- Jj, London, 21/07/2009 08:17
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