Spain 'is acting like North Korea' over Gibraltar

 
Support: William Hague had talks in Malian capital Bamako
6 August 2013
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Gibraltar's chief minister today accused Spain of acting like North Korea and compared its foreign minister with its former Fascist leader General Franco.

In an outburst that raised tensions dramatically, Fabian Picardo accused Spanish foreign minister Jose Garcia-Margallo of sabre-rattling. It followed long delays and a threat to charge drivers £43 to cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar.

“The things that Mr Garcia-Margallo has said are more reminiscent of the type of statement you’d hear from North Korea than from an EU partner,” said Mr Picardo in a BBC radio interview.

“We’ve seen it before during Franco’s time during the Sixties, but I think all of us hoped that those politics were never going to come back.”

He added that “hell will freeze over” before the authorities in Gibraltar remove an artificial reef which Madrid claims is harming Spanish fishermen.

Spain is considering closing its air space to flights to the Rock and Mr Picardo said such a move would be dangerous and was the “politics of madness”.

Foreign Secretary William Hague last month phoned Mr Garcia-Margallo to complain about Spain increasing border checks, which has forced drivers to wait for up to seven hours.

The Foreign Office yesterday summoned the Spanish ambassador to demand assurances that there would be no repeat of the excessive checks.

Mr Garcia-Margallo’s comments represent the latest escalation in the dispute over the status of Gibraltar, following a number of alleged Spanish incursions into the territory’s waters.

However, Mr Picardo’s remarks were seen as highly inflammatory. North Korea has threatened to launch nuclear attacks on the West and Franco was the Right-wing military leader who seized power in Spain in 1936 and ruled until his death in 1975.

A Foreign Office spokesman said frustrations about the situation were understandable. “We completely understand the strength of feeling in Gibraltar about the behaviour of Spain, which is unacceptable and disproportionate,” said a spokesman.

The Spanish foreign ministry was this morning considering its response to the outburst by Mr Picardo.

Britain has said it expects Madrid to live up to the commitments it made in the 2006 Cordoba Agreement, which included deals on issues such as border crossings and access for flights, as well as establishing a tripartite forum for regular dialogue between Britain, Spain and Gibraltar.

Spain claims sovereignty over the Rock, which has been a British overseas territory since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The Government has made clear that it will not negotiate over sovereignty so long as Gibraltar’s people want to remain British.

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