The airport is a stumbling block to the Gibraltar Agreement, pending the elections

Signing an agreement on Tarek mountain between United kingdom And European Union It will be one of the issues that the government emerging from the polls must resolve to prevent the issue from dragging on forever. In recent weeks, the Spanish governmentHe made it publicly clear that an agreement was forthcoming, although the British never closed it. The call for elections and obstacles at the airport, among other things, explain the new delay. Gibraltar and Northern Ireland It is the UK’s only land border with the European Union.

On the UK-EU negotiations on post-Brexit Gibraltar, in short, Brussels delegated to Madrid. Neither Spain nor the United Kingdom intend to renounce their sovereignty. While Spain talks about decolonization that must be implemented, but not voted on, the United Kingdom states that in 2006 there was a referendum in which the continuity in the British crown won.

The fact that the United Kingdom and Spain were in the European Union helped slow down the underlying problem – which has been going on for more than three centuries – thanks to the freedom of people, capital, goods and services that it enjoys by virtue of belonging to the club of society. The British divorce with Europe (96% of Gibraltarians opposed it) led to the negotiation of an international agreement on the Taxes and protection of financial interests on Gibraltar, as well as four memorandums of understanding on police and customs cooperation, citizens’ rights, the environment, tobacco and other products.

Charter New Year’s Eve in 2020

However, the agreement closed in due course should be based on the understanding reached between the two countries New Year’s Eve 2020. These are the grounds on which the UK and Spain believe that an agreement can be concluded between the EU and the UK, under the supervision of Spain. The general goal is to “create an area of ​​shared prosperity between the territory of Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar”, but the problem lies in the details, so that it is not interpreted as a transfer of sovereignty or jurisdiction that both parties assure that they will not back down in any way. About 30,000 people pass through the gate each day.

The Spanish Government guarantees that the negotiation or signing of an agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom on Gibraltar does not imply any reduction in their claims. in recent conversations The airport emerged as one of the crucial aspects. Spain states that in the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, the King of Spain ceded to the Crown of Great Britain the city and castle of Gibraltar “with its port, defenses and castle”. The State Department recalls on its website that “Spain did not cede the isthmus, nor the adjacent waters nor the airspace under Spanish sovereignty”.

Why has Gibraltar Airport become one of the main obstacles between the two countries? For two reasons: The movement of people and the technical operation of the infrastructure itself.

In the first aspect, the problem is the control of the passengers Entry into the Schengen area There will be continuity between Gibraltar and the rest of Campo de Gibraltar, which will require the deployment of Frontex and the Spanish Police. The second point indicates Flights that the infrastructure can operateThe UK wants to increase its capacity without having consequences for airport sovereignty. Because of how airspace is managed, Spain only allows flights in Gibraltar with the UK.

The main stumbling block

Although London wanted a “neutral” agreement, that is, one that did not involve changes in sovereignty, establishing certain processes meant acknowledging the amendment in a practical way.

One of the reasons for the lack of agreement lies in the Spanish demand for some regulatory changes to the infrastructure that, in practice, It would undermine the sovereignty of London About this space, as reported by the British press, though the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian PicardoEarlier this month, she denied before a British Parliament committee that airport issues had hampered negotiations.

In the British Foreign Office, they are aware that it will not be possible to sign a treaty until a new executive body is formed and they remember that they will not reach any agreement affecting sovereignty. They also maintain the position of not talking about an agreement until all sides are closed.

Sources in the Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed this The Gibraltar Agreement was well advanced (they talk about “90%)”But the call for elections stalled the process.

PSOE and PP positions

The electoral platforms of the two major parties include this issue. In London they think so Elections will not change Spain’s positionjust as would happen in the UK if Labor took over from the Conservatives at 10 Downing Street.

he PSOE, the party whose government has led the negotiations in recent years, calls for “an agreement in relation to Gibraltar that creates an area of ​​shared prosperity for Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar, that respects Spain’s legal position with respect to its sovereignty”. The formation led by Pedro Sanchez wants to continue until the point where negotiations stalled.

he s It goes further by elevating Gibraltar’s “controversial history” to advocating “a responsible dialogue with the British Government to address the process of decolonization and restoration of sovereignty, in accordance with United Nations doctrine”. Regarding the negotiations after the New Year’s Eve agreement, Núñez Fijo’s party put on the table “addressing the situation created after Brexit to defend Spanish interests” in taxation, the environment and security.

Other minority parties such as vox referring to the Rock as a “tax haven” in which any agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom would have to respect Spain’s sovereign rights over the British colony, while the electoral program of Add It does not address this issue.