Gib tug-of-war: UK worries the Rock dispute could lead to a 'Falklands situation' with Spain
Friday, September 6, 2013 @ 9:39 PM
BRITAIN fears the ongoing conflict with Spain over Gibraltar may lead to 'another Falklands situation' with the relationship between the two countries irretrievably broken down.
The UK's Secretary of State for Europe, Davd Liddington, says: “I consider it important that there are no misunderstandings about how serious we are in our commitment to Gibraltar and to the democratic right of the Gibraltarians to continue to be British.”
Natives of the Rock have always expressed an overwhelming desire to remain British – and the highly-regulated fiscal concessions Gibraltar has means large UK-based companies operate from the enclave, providing high-quality and well-paid jobs to experienced professionals.
Workers in Gibraltar have always feared that if the Rock were to be handed back to Spain after 300 years, these companies would leave and unemployment – currently at three per cent – would mirror the exceptionally-high figures of neighbouring Andalucía.
“The risk at present is that the Gibraltar issue ends up like a Falkland Island situation, where we cannot talk to them [the Spanish government] about the economy or security or any other matter without Gibraltar becoming the main topic of discussion,” Liddington stated, referring to the formerly-Argentine archipelago which has been British since the 1980s, but which Argentina – and even Spain – still refer to as the Malvinas Islands.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com