GIBRALTAR’S chief minister said this morning that “hell will freeze over” before it removes an artificial reef that has angered Spanish fishermen and which has led to what many see as a road blockade of the Rock.
Spain is taking a more belligerent approach to the row, causing misery to workers in Gibraltar
Fabian Picardo said the reef was required for Gibraltar’s economy and was no different to others built by Spain
in its own coastal waters.
in its own coastal waters.
And he said Spanish threats to close its airspace around the Mediterranean outpost would make landings more difficult for pilots and so endanger the lives of passengers.
and so endanger the lives of passengers.
He accused Spain of acting like North Korea and sabre-rattling over the country's new hard-line stance on Gibraltar.
Madrid’s foreign minister Jose Garcia-Margallo has become increasingly belligerent in his language, threatening to impose a toll charge of 50 euros (£43.40) on vehicles entering and leaving the British Overseas Territory.
Gibraltar's defiant chief minister Fabian Picardo (centre; from Facebook)
He has said the proceeds could be used to help Spanish fishermen who have lost out because of damage to fishing grounds allegedly caused by Gibraltarian authorities.
grounds allegedly caused by Gibraltarian authorities.
Such a fee could impose punitive costs on Gibraltarians who regularly commute into Spain to work.
Spain is also considering closing its airspace to flights heading to the Rock.
Mr Picardo said any border costs would violate European Union freedom of movement rules.
He added Spain’s threats were the “politics of madness”.He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "What we have seen this weekend is sabre-rattling of the sort that we haven't seen for some time.
"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.
you'd hear from North Korea than from an EU partner.
"We've seen it before during Franco's time during the 1960s but I think all of us hoped that those politics were never going to come back and that the much more enlightened politics of Mr Moratinos (Miguel Angel Moratinos), who was the previous but one foreign minister of Spain, would prevail, which talked about people working together and creating economic benefits for the citizens on both sides of the frontier rather than the belligerence we are seeing now.”
What we have seen this weekend is sabre-rattling of the sort that we haven't seen for some timeFabian Picardo
His comments came three weeks after the Sunday Express broke the story about the escalating row, with Mr Picardo demanding Britain send a gun boat to patrol Gibraltar in a show of strength.
Last week, Express Online revealed that Spain had been turning away lorries full of concrete thought to be destined for the artificial reef.
Thousands of other motorists have been forced to queue for hours in sweltering heat as Spanish border guards began to check every vehicle at the border post.
Yesterday, the Foreign Office voiced concerns over Mr Garcia-Margallo's comments and said Britain would not compromise its sovereignty over Gibraltar.A spokesman made clear that the UK expects Madrid to live up to the commitments it made in the 2006 Cordoba Agreement, which included deals on issues like border crossings and access for flights, as well as establishing a tripartite forum for regular dialogue between Britain, Spain and Gibraltar.
, as well as establishing a tripartite forum for regular dialogue between Britain, Spain and Gibraltar.
Spain claims sovereignty over the Rock, which stands on the southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula but has been a British Overseas Territory since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
But the UK Government has made clear that it will not negotiate over sovereignty as long as Gibraltar's people want to remain British.Foreign Secretary William Hague last month phoned Mr Garcia-Margallo to complain about Spain ramping up border checks, which forced drivers to wait for up to seven hours in searing heat.
The Foreign Office yesterday summoned the Spanish ambassador to demand assurances that there would be no repeat of the excessive checks.
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