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The UK has promised to fight for Gibraltar’s sovereignty after Brussels demanded Spanish boots on the ground as the price for a post-Brexit trade deal. The EU is calling for Gibraltar to remain inside its single market, the Schengen free-travel area, as well as follow tax rates set by Madrid. Under the plans, Spanish police would also be able to enter the British outpost unchallenged if they are in “hot pursuit” of a criminal.
The EU’s draft mandate states: “Surveillance would take place at Gibraltar port, airport and waters carried out by Spain applying the relevant EU rules.
“Spanish border guards would have all necessary powers to perform border controls and surveillance.”
Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s negotiator, said Madrid “fully intends” to ask the EU’s Frontex border force to help in carrying out the checks.
The top Eurocrat added: “It is about cooperation in the region, it is not about sovereignty or jurisdiction.”
Mr Raab said the EU’s draft mandate was not a basis for negotiation and urged Brussels to rethink its plans.
As tensions are set to rise, with the status of Gibraltar continuing to be a major point of contention in relations between Britain and Spain, unearthed reports shed light on Madrid’s fury at the Earl and Countess of Wessex in 2012.
Eight years ago, Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones, paid a visit to Gibraltar.
As excited residents hung out flags and bunting to welcome the couple, though, Spain’s former Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo rained on their parade, making it clear that the Spanish government was vehemently against the three-day visit.
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Spanish fishermen were demanding the right to fish in Gibraltar waters, in breach of a 1999 ruling.
Some 59 Spanish boats based in towns near the Rock were affected by the ban on using their nets there.
Despite this, residents of Gibraltar were determined to pull out all the stops for the royal couple.
As part of a packed three-day itinerary, the Earl and Countess laid the foundation stone for Gibraltar’s Diamond Jubilee Monument, attended a Queen’s Birthday Parade, toured Main Street in front of thousands of Gibraltarians and visited the headquarters of the British Forces.
They also met the late Aurelio Montegriffo, who had dined with the Queen when she visited Gibraltar in 1954.
Of Spain’s reaction, Mr Montegriffo said: “It is just ridiculous. Everyone here is so excited. Why do they have to be so silly about it”
The month before Prince Edward’s visit, in the shadow of the fishing dispute and the planned royal visit, Queen Sofia of Spain pulled out of attending a Jubilee lunch at Windsor Castle – a move which came at the request of the incensed Spanish government.
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