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Gibraltar: Spain warns Britain ‘the party’s over’ and threatens to cut off airspace

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T

TCRS

Banned
Spain stepped up the ­diplomatic war over Gibraltar yesterday by threatening to cut off airspace and ramp up charges at the border.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo also suggested he would target online gambling firms based there and warned: “The party’s over.”

He has drawn up proposals to make people pay as much as £86 to visit the British territory from the mainland, and thousands of locals who own property in Spain may face new tax probes.

Planes heading to Gibraltar could also be banned from Spanish airspace.

The Foreign Office said it is concerned by the comments and promised to safeguard British sovereignty.

MISERY

The Spanish government is suspected of using the row as a smoke screen to distract from its economic misery.

The dispute began over fishing rights but escalated when a Spanish patrol boat fired on a jet ski.

Border officials also made drivers sit in searing heat for seven hours recently while they carried out checks.

But Mr Garcia-Margallo said it is an essential part of the fight against smuggling and money laundering.

He added: “If queues and congestion are the result then perhaps we need to think about a charge of 50 euros to enter Gibraltar and 50 euros to leave.”

He also hinted relations would suffer even further unless Gibraltar removes an artificial reef designed to stop Spanish trawlers.

He added: “The money we collect from a border crossing charge would be very useful for helping Spanish ­fishermen affected by the destruction of fishing grounds.”
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/gibraltar-spain-warns-britain-the-2125177

Send in the gunboats I say!

f1ded916a5d64480ac3eaf11a8d0f8e8-513x298.jpg


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no seriously, wtf Spain? Desperate much?
 
D

Dennis

Banned
Yes Spain, lets just ignore the overwhelming support for staying British among the people actually living on Gibraltar.
 
S

Sylver

Banned
I'm ok with that Gilbraltar is just a black money and drug hole.
Gladly our government is doing what they should have done some years ago.
0j1D132.jpg
 
I

Ikael

Member
As a Spaniard, I am 100% behind this.

I mean, by focusing into the whole Gibraltar's issue, our politicians can concentrate into bringing misery to other country rather than ours, it would be great! I know that the ideal thing would be that they would pay interest to bettering our troubled country instead, but that's asking far too much and we all know it.
 
R

Rourkey

Member
Rather than send in the gunboats I hope the UK government starts charging £50 for every passenger traveling between the UK and Spain, it would completely destroy what is left of the Spanish economy
 
T

thefro

Member
Britain needs to tell Spain they'll give them Gibraltar as soon as Spain gives Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco.
 
R

Rourkey

Member
Sylver said:
Yeah we spaniards should expropiate all UK owners.
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That's good for us, they come back to the UK with their money and the Spanish Government own even more empty properties which will have even less value because no foreigners will ever buy again
 
M

Matt_

World's #1 One Direction Fan: Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you~~~
thefro said:
Britain needs to tell Spain they'll give them Gibraltar as soon as Spain gives Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco.
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I don't see how that helps Britain at all

Isn't a charge from going to Spain - Gibraltar against EU or WTO laws? Like an unfair tariff or something?
 
S

Sylver

Banned
Rourkey said:
That's good for us, they come back to the UK with their money and the Spanish Government own even more empty properties which will have even less value because no foreigners will ever buy again
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Then we two think the same XD, deal, I hope soon enough we get a referendum to leave EU and don't have to deal with dinosaur grave EU parlament and laws.

I'm pretty sad how our beach houses are full filling by Russians these days, :_(.
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Our government is in dire straits, so they try to deflect the damage and scorn by bringing Gibraltar to the conversation. Quick note: it's not working. At all. Nearly nobody is paying attention to it with all the scandals filling the newspapers.

That said...

Dennis said:
Yes Spain, lets just ignore the overwhelming support for staying British among the people actually living on Gibraltar.
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This is mostly posturing. Gibraltar is not a huge issue among the Spanish population.

Our biggest problem with the rock is that it is a vile tax haven/money laundering machine that also serves as refuge for drug and tobacco smugglers with the complicity of Gibraltar's authorities. Gibraltar doesn't actually have any form of territorial waters per law, yet they patrol the surrounding sea as if they own it and feel free to block police boats giving chase to smugglers. On top of that, they continously shit on European regulations regarding marine waste disposal, which is causing all kind of headaches to local fishermen (also chased out from the waters surrounding Gibraltar).

As it stands now, Gibraltar is the closest thing to a pirate haven in Europe. They don't give a shit about anybody or anything, and the UK is more than content to keep it that way so they have a tool to pressure Spain (or divert the attention of the public) when it's fitting.

thefro said:
Britain needs to tell Spain they'll give them Gibraltar as soon as Spain gives Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco.
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Ceuta and Melilla were Spanish well before Morocco existed (actually, they were Hispanic before Spain even existed), while Gibraltar became British by virtue of a treaty. People need to stop comparing them. They are nothing alike.

Edit: Regarding financial issues, Gibraltar enacted a few years ago some new laws to comply with Spanish and European anti-money laundering demands (ie: they cannot tell the authorities to go fuck themselves when asking for fiscal information), but their compliance is more than a bit ironic when you take into consideration the absurd amount of shell corporations stablished there for no other reason than confuse tax inspectors or shield clients from them.
 
I

Ikael

Member
Dennis said:
Yes Spain, lets just ignore the overwhelming support for staying British among the people actually living on Gibraltar.
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Real talk: this is pure posturing, since the opinion of the colonies's inhabitants have never mattered one ounce of crap to any goverment ever, including Britain's. See also: Hong Kong's devolution to China.

This issue mainly revolves around nationalistic posturing between Spain and the UK, mixed with a hefty dose of tax heaven convenience as well. Little or nothing to do with democracy, me thinks.
 
T

TCRS

Banned
ElTopo said:
Where exactly in this story is Spain demanding Gibraltar back?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disputed_status_of_Gibraltar#Spanish_position

They have been trying to take Gibraltar for quite some time now. The last formal agreement to a joint sovereignity failed in 2002 and since 2008 the british government has refused any negotiation without the approval of the government of Gibraltar.

Ikael said:
Real talk: this is pure posturing, since the opinion of the colonies's inhabitants have never mattered one ounce of crap to any goverment ever, including Britain's. See also: Hong Kong's devolution to China.
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Well, Hong Kong was leased from China and once the lease ran out they had to give it back.
 
I

Instigator

Banned
The British empire is long gone. The UK has no business outside of the British Isles. Hand over Gilbratar and all other overseas territories to their rightful owners. And cut your defense budget by half.
 
tkscz

tkscz

Member
I'm going to quote yatzee and just say we need to have a war. Find a place to duke it out and fight, get it out of our systems.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
Is there an election coming up in Spain or something? Or is the economic news particularly bad?

I know. It's retaliation for that sequence on Top Gear the other week when they showed all the unfinished civic projects and ghost towns around Spain, isn't it?
 
S

Showaddy

Member
So yeah how much of this is just the Spanish government trying to distract everyone from the fact their economy is absolute shite ala Argentina?

Just seems convenient that countries are suddenly stirring up this nationalistic pride during their crippling economic woes.
 
S

Seanbob11

Member
Instigator said:
The British empire is long gone. The UK has no business outside of the British Isles. Hand over Gilbratar and all other overseas territories to their rightful owners. And cut your defense budget by half.
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Really? What about all the people that live there that very much want to stay British? Evict them from their own land?
 
P

PhoenixDark

Banned
Perhaps war would be a good thing. It could provide the stimulus Spain's economy needs to recover, similar to how WWII ended the Great Depression in the US.
 
G

gutter_trash

Banned
Gibraltar was only in the hands of current Spain for 200 years from 1501 to 1704 or something. And it has been in the hands of England for 300 years, (100 years longer than when Spain held it)

They lost it in the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession after signing the Treaty of Utrecht.

Under the Peace of Utrecht, Philip was recognized as King Philip V of Spain, but renounced his place in the French line of succession, thereby precluding the union of the French and Spanish crowns (although there was some sense in France that this renunciation was illegal). He retained the Spanish overseas empire, but ceded the Southern Netherlands, Naples, Milan, and Sardinia to Austria; Sicily and parts of the Milanese to Savoy; and Gibraltar and Minorca to Great Britain. Moreover, he granted the British the exclusive right to non-Spanish slave trading in Spanish America for thirty years, the so-called asiento.
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752px-Western_Europe_Utrecht_Treaty.jpg
,

To the people who want Gibraltar back to Spain are you the same people who want Sicily and Southern Netherlands to return back under the Spanish Kingdom?
 
I

Ikael

Member
TCRS said:
Well, Hong Kong was leased from China and once the lease ran out they had to give it back.
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Britain conveniently ignored signed treaties whenever they could get away with it, like any other world power of its time, specially when it came to the devolution of colonies and territories, as many Ceylon inhabitants would be able to recall. Not to mention that Gibraltar missed the the whole de-colonization effort of post WWII, and that the first thing that Britain did once they took over the rock was to expell its original citizens and call in for British colonists.

There's more posturing in the UK's historical stand regarding its own colonies than inside a hipster convention. This have always been about business and nationalistic penis waving, not democracy.
 
N

Nevasleep

Member
Instigator said:
The British empire is long gone. The UK has no business outside of the British Isles. Hand over Gilbratar and all other overseas territories to their rightful owners. And cut your defense budget by half.
Click to expand...
The US should give back Puerto Rico and Alaska.
 
S

Sylver

Banned
gutter_trash said:
Gibraltar was only in the hands of current Spain for 200 years from 1501 to 1704 or something.
They lost it in the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession after signing the Treaty of Utrecht.
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Yes but the Utrecht treaty did not include the water neither the airspace.
 
Z

Zaph

Member
Instigator said:
The British empire is long gone. The UK has no business outside of the British Isles. Hand over Gilbratar and all other overseas territories to their rightful owners. And cut your defense budget by half.
Click to expand...
This makes no sense. Do you realise how many other countries have territories far away from there mainland?

If the locals want rid of the status quo, fair enough, but strong-arming it back to the 'rightful' owner? Yeah, no.
 
G

gutter_trash

Banned
Sylver said:
Yes but the Utrecht treaty did not include the water neither the airspace.
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look man, all these countries went to war for over 2000 years with each other.

You ain't gonna be able to make everyone happy, there will always be some boo hoo here and there.
 
M

moggio

Banned
Instigator said:
The British empire is long gone. The UK has no business outside of the British Isles. Hand over Gilbratar and all other overseas territories to their rightful owners. And cut your defense budget by half.
Click to expand...

Whatever the state of the British Empire, Gibraltar is a British Oversees Territory whose 'rightful owner' is errr... Britain and whose inhabitants reject Spanish sovereignty. It is therefore the duty of the British (and Spanish) Government to respect their wishes.
 
B

BrokenEchelon

Banned
Instigator said:
The British empire is long gone. The UK has no business outside of the British Isles. Hand over Gilbratar and all other overseas territories to their rightful owners. And cut your defense budget by half.
Click to expand...

"Rightful owners" is funny.

Go back far enough in history and you'll be able to assign that term to many different people, and that goes for many places.
 
W

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
Instigator said:
The British empire is long gone. The UK has no business outside of the British Isles. Hand over Gilbratar and all other overseas territories to their rightful owners. And cut your defense budget by half.
Click to expand...

Shall we see what the people of Gibraltar think of this?
 
W

Walshicus

Member
Boom Boom Pow said:
it's not their land in the first place though. they were immigrants there. stole it like the Americans did
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So what, you want it returned to the Granadans? Or the Romans, or Carthagians?

If Utrecht happened within living memory you might have a point. Gibraltar has been British for longer than it's been "Spanish" though, so you don't really.
 
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