PP MP José Ignacio Landaluce has called for sovereignty negotiations that include Gibraltar’s representatives and takes account of international legality “and the historical rights” allegedly disregarded by Chief Minister Peter Caruana.

Responding to Mr Caruana’s remarks in Spain, Sr Landaluce says that the Chief Minister is “manipulating reality when trying to camouflage the relationship between Gibraltar and UK outside of a colonial relationship.”

 

According to Sr Landaluce, the Chief Minister is trying to justify his policies that are in effect “an exercise of sovereignty” which is creating tension “not just between two governments but between the people on both sides.”

The MP for Cadiz says that Mr Caruana does not comment on how the Treaty of Utrecht is ignored every time “he harasses and expels Guardia Civil vessels,” how he is also disregarding UN resolutions “when referring to the relations between Gibraltar and UK, a relation he considers has “clear colonialistic overtones.”

“Caruana insists on his pretensions of exercising sovereignty with UK Government backing but also with that of a third party in the dispute, and that is the Spanish Government.”

Sr Landaluce believes Spain is wasting the opportunity of its EU presidency to defend the national interest in relation to the Gibraltar dispute and is also critical of the Spanish position that the EU should not intervene in the brewing Falklands crisis between UK and Argentina considering it “a bilateral problem and not one between regions” and instead calling for dialogue between the parties.

Sr Landaluce adds that he is concerned that the Madrid Government has stated that the EU will not intervene in other territorial disputes “like that of Gibraltar between UK and Spain,” or in others affecting countries in South America.