Gibraltar, the rock in the shoes of the UK and Spain

The politicians of Gibraltar refuse to agree to any eventual power sharing of this British colony between the UK and Spain.

On Monday, British prime Minister Tony Blair and his Spanish counterpart Jose Maria Aznar, will meet for talks on the future of the colony. The UK and Spain are trying to work out a power-sharing plan, but the Gibraltarians will not hear of it.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was almost lynched at the beginning of the month on a visit to Gibraltar, a British Colony since the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713, during which he tried to explain the need to put an end to hostile relations with Spain.

Straw heard the leaders of the three main political parties in the colony, First Minister Peter Caruna, the leader of the Labour Party, Joe Bossano and the Liberal leader, Joseph Garcia, demand that Spain be given no part in the future administration of the territory. Jack Straw was forced to declare that London will never sign any agreement which “ends relations between Gibraltar and Britain and which opens the way towards Spanish control”.

Having also stated that “The people of Gibraltar will decide their future”, Jack Straw left little room for doubt as to Britain’s intentions. However, the Gibraltarians do not seem to be convinced.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru