The Spanish position

In the Travel Weekly of August 18, in the section “Where in the World?”, your newspaper publishes some remarks about Gibraltar and the Spanish position towards it which are inaccurate. 1. Spain is not “recently agitating” for the colony of Gibraltar to be restored to our sovereignty.

On the contrary, Spain has consistently pursued this restoration and has done so using all legal channels at her disposal.

It is true, as you indicate, that the territory was ceded 300 years ago, but the clauses of the treaty between Spain and the UK which lay down the cession also provide for the retrocession of the territory in the appropriate circumstances.

2. What Spain has done recently is to protest against Gibraltar’s unilaterally laying cement blocks on the bottom of the Bay of Algeciras, thus jeopardising Spanish fishermen’s livelihoods and the local marine environment.

As a result of bilateral contacts between the Spanish and the UK ministers of Foreign Affairs to resolve the issue, both parties have pledged to create an ad-hoc working group in which, in addition to representatives of both countries, other authorities with expertise in these areas would be present.

3. What your newspaper quotes as “disproportionate delays at the border as Spanish police carry out security checks” are the result of measures to prevent the all-too frequent illicit trafficking from Gibraltar.

Spain has not only the right but also the duty to take all necessary measures in accordance with Spanish and European Law to prevent this trafficking, as well as to prosecute tax fraud and violations of environmental regulations. — Ricardo López-Aranda, Chargé d´Affaires A.I. of the Embassy of Spain, Pretoria