Heightened tensions on the rock of Gibraltar

As the temperature rises between Gibraltar and Spain, Brussels may no longer be able to afford the luxury of brushing the rock's problems under the carpet. PublicServiceEurope.com talks to Gibraltar's MEP Sir Graham Watson about the thorny sovereignty issues

Depression-wracked Spain is looking to divert attention away from the country's unending economic strife by increasing pressure on the tiny populace of Gibraltar, according to a British MEP. Madrid's longstanding sovereignty claim over the rock, a British overseas territory, was dormant but has resurfaced since the Partido Popular came to power - says Sir Graham Watson MEP. Spanish and British patrol boats were engaged in a rare standoff in May when Spanish trawlers ventured into Gibraltar waters. 

Waiting times at the isthmus' border crossing rose to three hours after the incident, as Spanish police underlined their ability to make life difficult for the rock's 30,000 inhabitants. In Brussels, meanwhile, Spain is trying every trick in the book to put spokes in the wheel of the Gibraltar economy, in particular the shipping and gaming industries. "It's getting worse because we've got a right-wing government in Spain trying to whip up popular sentiment to take people's attention away from the economic situation that they've inherited from their predecessors," Watson tells PublicServiceEurope.com.

When the Socialists were in power in Madrid "tensions were much lower", says Watson - who represents Gibraltar in the European parliament. "The level of cooperation between the Gibraltar government and the government in Madrid, and the government in London, was quite good," he adds. "We even had so-called tripartite talks which were going well." Incursions by Spanish fishermen into Gibraltar waters are not new but have increased sharply in number over the last six months. "On one particular occasion, a Guardia Civil patrol boat came in with Spanish fishing boats to try to make a point," says Watson of May's incident. 

"The Gibraltar government in cooperation with the Royal Navy allowed them to make their protest for about three hours and then sent a destroyer down there and they dispersed peacefully." The Gibraltar government has itself taken a hard-line stance compared to its predecessor, he points out. The previous government "turned a blind eye to a certain number of fishing boats coming in" after what was "probably an agreement that had been reached somewhere in a restaurant with fisheries leaders". Watson continues: "The current government said in their manifesto that if they were to win the election, they would no longer turn a blind eye to this; to the environmental damage being done by the trawlers to the ocean floor". Damaging trawling practices are illegal along most parts of the Spanish coast and have no justification in Gibraltar waters, he says. "The new government has tried to enforce that and has come up against opposition whipped up by nationalist sentiment on the side of the Spanish."

Watson wants to bring Gibraltar's leaders to Brussels to discuss a wide range of issues, though the European Commission has been reticent to open up this particular can of worms. Thanks in part to bureaucratic incompetence and willful blindness, the various parties have managed to designate overlapping coastal zones as sites of environmental importance under European Union law. While this is now a Brussels issue, the European environment commissioner is leaving the problem well alone.

"The European commission is notoriously unwilling to get involved in what they say is a dispute between two sovereign governments," says Watson. "The problem from my point of view, representing the people of Gibraltar, is that this leaves the Gibraltar people in a no man's land, because what happens is in the Council of Ministers - the British and the Spanish just agree to let it lie."

While they might decline to bring it up at ministerial level, there are complaints in the European Parliament about Gibraltar's allegedly unsafe ship bunkering practices - business that Spanish ports see as theirs. While Gibraltar is not subject to EU customs and excise laws, its generous offshore tax system has been successfully attacked in the European Court of Justice. Spain is putting pressure on the commission to clamp down on internet gaming, one of Gibraltar's specialities. Using a tactic widely employed by Turkish authorities to annoy Cyprus, cruise ships that dock in Gibraltar are sometimes subsequently refused access to Spanish ports.

"The big mistake was made prior to 1986 when Spain joined the Union," says Watson. "We should never have allowed Spain to become a member of the union without sorting out the sovereignty question." So what is to be done? Watson shrugs his shoulders and calls for more talks. Gibraltar is a tiny piece of land that Brussels would rather forget. But if tensions keep rising, it may no longer be possible to keep brushing the rock's problems under the carpet.

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