Spain seeks fresh Gibraltar discussions with Britain

Spain's foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, has sent his British colleague a letter reminding him of both countries' commitment to seek a negotiated solution to the question of Gibraltar. The letter, said diplomatic sources, makes reference to the 1984 Brussels Process, a negotiation between Spain and Britain in which Gibraltar had a voice but no vote. That process was interrupted in 2002, when Gibraltarians rejected in a referendum a preliminary agreement on co-sovereignty reached between London and Madrid.

When the Spanish Socialists rose to power in 2004, the system was changed for three-way talks in which Gibraltar had the same power of decision as its two counterparts. But the new Popular Party (PP) government would rather return to two-way talks with London. Margallo sent this letter to Foreign Secretary William Hague a day after British Prime Minister David Cameron said at the Council of Europe that he favored self-determination for Gibraltar, against the stipulations of the Utrecht Treaty of 1713.

The head of Spanish diplomacy also wrote that he is ready to "continue the conversations on regional cooperation in a balanced manner," that is to say, with the participation of the Andalusian government and Gibraltarian authorities, as long as sovereignty is not discussed.

On Thursday, the new Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo of the socialist-labor coalition GSLP/LP, said he was "pleased" about his meeting with the UK secretary of state for Europe, David Lidington, who reportedly assured Picardo "the UK will not get involved in a negotiation process over Gibraltar's sovereignty without our consent."