Recognition, Recognition, Recognition

By Gemma Arias Vasquez
There are some days in politics that stay with you, not because of what was said, but because of what they represent. Days when you look at what is unfolding and realise that something has happened which, for years, would have seemed improbable, then unlikely and then almost impossible. The 22nd April 2026 was one of those days.

On that day, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, was received officially in Madrid by the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares Bueno, at the Palacio de Viana, the Foreign Minister’s official residence. The meeting was publicly listed in advance on La Moncloa’s website, where Fabian Picardo was described as the “Ministro Principal de Gibraltar”. For some, that may look like a simple piece of diplomatic protocol. It was not. It was something far more significant than that. It was recognition. Recognition of the Office, of Gibraltar and of political reality.

BREXIT
And it cannot be lost on any of us that this moment commenced on the 24th June 2016, the day after the EU Referendum. Who would have said? Certainly not me.

I led the campaign for Gibraltar to remain in the European Union. I did so with complete conviction, because I believed it was the right thing for Gibraltar. Our people agreed. 96% of us voted overwhelmingly to remain. We understood our geography, our economy and our daily reality. We understood what fluidity at the frontier meant, not as an abstract principle, but as something that affected working people, families and businesses every single day. We understood what was at stake.

That is why I say this with complete honesty: never in a million years did I imagine that one day a consequence of Brexit would be this. The Chief Minister of Gibraltar being formally received in Madrid, at Palacio de Viana, in a bilateral meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister, publicly announced in advance by Spain itself, under the title “Ministro Principal de Gibraltar.” And yet here we are. It was an amicable meeting – radiating normality. A normality which should exist for the sake of all those crossing the frontier on a daily basis, that had not existed until now.

Politics has a way of humbling all of us. History does not move in straight lines. Sometimes it takes us somewhere none of us expected, by a route none of us would ever have chosen. Brexit was not what Gibraltar wanted. It was not what Gibraltar voted for. But Gibraltar did what Gibraltar always does when faced with difficulty. We adapted. We held our nerve. We negotiated seriously. We stood firm. And we worked to turn an extremely unwelcome set of circumstances into a future that protects our people and reflects political reality. That is why this moment is so striking.

COOPERATION NOT CONFRONTATION
For decades, Gibraltar’s relationship with Spain was too often trapped in old habits and old arguments. Too often, Gibraltar was something to be spoken about rather than spoken to. Too often, the language was cautious, the symbolism was guarded and the politics was shaped by historical positions rather than present realities. What happened on 22nd April was different. It was direct. It was formal. It was public. And because it was all of those things, it was impossible to ignore.

The following day, the Chief Minister addressed a high-profile breakfast forum in Madrid. That in itself was significant. It is worth remembering that a similar appearance in 2015 was cancelled under pressure from the then Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo. So when I saw our Chief Minister stand up to speak at the Forum Europa, I could not help but reflect on how far we had come.

None of this happened by accident. It has been the product of years of hard work, relationship building and diplomacy on the part of our Chief Minister. Whatever view anyone may take of politics more generally, it was impossible not to be struck by the seriousness with which he was received and by the relationship he has clearly built over time. It reflected not only the work that has gone into navigating one of the most complex periods in Gibraltar’s modern political history, but also the credibility and respect that Fabian has earned in doing so.

Of course, none of this means that our respective differences have disappeared. They have not. The questions asked in the Forum reflected that. It does not mean Gibraltar has changed its position on sovereignty. It has not. It does not mean that history has somehow been forgotten. It has not. What it means is that mature politics is beginning to prevail over stale politics. It means that disagreement can be acknowledged without being allowed to consume everything else. It means that serious people can safeguard their core positions while still engaging in a way that serves the interests of the communities they represent.

That is what I found so striking about this moment. A recognition that those disagreements remain and that despite them, or perhaps because we are mature enough to manage them, there is now space for a more normal, more serious and more respectful political relationship.

There will be those who try to brush this moment aside. They will say it is only wording. Only a title. Only a meeting. Only a diary entry. Or perhaps some might even call this “window dressing”. They are wrong. In politics, form often tells you substance before substance is fully spelled out. The setting was important. The fact it was at Palacio de Viana was important. The fact it was announced in advance was important. The fact the Spanish Foreign Ministry used the words “Ministro Principal de Gibraltar” was important. And the fact that all of this happened officially and publicly was perhaps the clearest signal of all.

If you had told me, when I was leading the campaign for Gibraltar to remain in the European Union, that the Brexit path would one day lead to this kind of formal recognition in Madrid, I would have said you were mad. But politics is full of ironies and history has a habit of surprising even those of us who are closest to events as they unfold.
So yes, this was a historic moment. It was a visible, undeniable shift in how Gibraltar is being engaged with. A moment that showed, in the clearest possible terms, that Gibraltar is not being spoken about, but spoken to. And spoken to as Gibraltar.

That is why the right word for this moment is the simplest one.

Recognition. Recognition. Recognition.

And Gibraltar should not be afraid to say so.

Gemma Arias-Vasquez is the Minister for Health, Care and Business.