Margallo vindicates his firm policies on Gibraltar
Margallo emphasised that "cordial relations" with the United Kingdom does not equal ceding the territorial integrity of Spain
On Wednesday, the caretaker government vindicated the firmness that has characterised its policies on Gibraltar, which has not strained cordial relations with the UK, a close partner with shared values and common interests.
Foreign and Interior Ministers, José Manuel García-Margallo and Jorge Fernández Díaz, respectively, presided over a ceremony at the Palacio de Viana in which they awarded officials of the State Security Forces in recognition of services rendered in matters relating to Gibraltar.
Fernández Díaz praised the direction taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation on policies on Gibraltar during the term of García-Margallo, who he defined as a "patriot". "The question of Gibraltar, until today, is in very good hands, those of a patriot with a clear vision for Spain", he stressed.
The head of Spanish diplomacy explained that the question of Gibraltar is a "permanent interest" of Spain's foreign policy, but was keen to stress that firmness on this position is not incompatible with maintaining "extremely cordial" relations with the United Kingdom, as has been the case in his term.
"But warmth does not equal the cession, especially that which relates to an issue that affects the unity of Spain and our territorial integrity, an issue that has been one of the priorities of this Ministry" explained García-Margallo.
The minister recalled how when he arrived at the Ministry in 2012, he found that Gibraltar "had broken over and over again the rules of the game, abusing concessions obtained in the past", such as the Tripartite Forum for dialogue between Madrid, London and Gibraltar, created under the socialist government of Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
"This forum, created with the best of intentions, and I have no doubt about that, it failed to achieve any sentimental closeness from the population of Gibraltar, nor a single advancement in political matters", according to García-Margallgo, who, citing Albert Camus, has warned that "good intentions can be as damaging as bad."
The only thing this forum has achieved - insisted the minister - was to consolidate an economic model based on opacity and low taxation to the detriment of the areas surrounding the Rock.
Hence, the government of Mariano Rajoy has acted in two directions with regards to Gibraltar: continuing to pursue the return to bilateral negotiations between Spain and the United Kingdom in relation to the dispute over sovereignty - a dialogue frozen since 2002 - while at the same time proposing, without success, to construct a new forum to address issues of local cooperation between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar, where there would be representation for regional and local authorities from both sides of The Fence.
With respect to the six decorated officials, the minister has given value to their work to "ensure strict compliance with the law while displaying a vocation and sense of duty to a major issue for the homeland"
Source (in Spanish):
http://www.europapress.es/nacional/noti ... 54953.html