Spain says that Gibraltar was not present at the Malaga talks, let alone that we have a right to determine our future!

In fact, it should be more important for the British side, as it was Spain who handed over Gibraltar by treaty over 300 years ago. That they remain obsessed about it there is no doubt, but obsession does not man that one is entitled to what it is not.

VETO OVER GIBRALTAR

As the EU meets on Friday, the Spanish are recalling that they secured a veto over Gibraltar from them, but this will be put to the test if in the Brexit negotiations there is hope of a breakthrough, because Brussels would not allow Spanish obsession to wreck a good deal which at present looks like being a difficult proposition.

The Spanish secretary of state for the EU, Juan Gonzalez-Barba, met last week with his UK counterpart David Frost, and thinks there is room to play with - but it must mean that the interests of all must be taken into account, and everyone knows what are Gibraltar's interests.

At present it is feared that a no deal scenario over the UK/EU trade deal could be catastrophic. Spain wants the rights of its citizens protected, guarantees for its fishing fleet, access to the UK market for Spanish products...and no doubt British tourism AND Gibraltar!

GIBRALTAR'S RIGHTS

Of course, officials met in Malaga last week to set out positions, but to begin with the Spanish did not recognise officially that Gibraltar was there, let alone that we are a deciding factor when determining what could be the future of Gibraltar, which is a primordial consideration for the Gibraltarians as the Rock's new Governor vice admiral Sir David Steel recalled in our Parliament when he referred to the UK's assurances on sovereignty, underpinned by the Gibraltarian people's right of self-determination.

As the Brexit negotiations loom, he said that the constitutional commitment of the UK is clear: Her Majesty's Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes.

Not only that but Her Majesty's Government has also declared publicly and repeatedly that it would never enter a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.

Such are Rock-solid considerations!

18-06-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR