An article from Panorama Gibraltar's on-line Daily
Spain should drop its claim to Gibraltar, says Garcia
National Day message, from Leader of Liberal Party Dr Joseph Garcia
This year I will have been in politics for 20 years and have had the pleasure and the privilege to serve you as a Member of Parliament for over 12 of those years. It is curious that despite the time that has elapsed since I was first elected, there are certain fundamentals that remain the same.
The first of these is that the Spanish claim over the sovereignty of Gibraltar remains unaltered. In some respects it is worse than before. In recent times we have seen Madrid move from a position where they were content to assert their claim verbally, to one where they now do so physically and more aggressively.
DESIGNATION
Nowhere is this seen clearer than in the designation, on a proposal from Madrid, of Gibraltar’s territorial waters as if they were Spanish for the purposes of EU environmental legislation. This is no abstract, theoretical move. The designation requires action to be taken and jurisdiction to be exercised over Gibraltar’s territorial sea. Madrid has also included a section of international waters as if they were Spanish waters.
It is well known that Spain then moved to assert jurisdiction inside Gibraltar’s territorial sea. There have been several well-publicised instances of this. The new wave of incidents commenced in May 2009 when the Spanish fisheries protection vessel, the Corvette “Tarifa” lowered a RHIB inside our waters in order to inspect fishing boats, in accordance with Spanish law. The RHIB refused to leave when approached by the Royal Navy.
The case of the four armed Civil Guards who entered the Port of Gibraltar and proceeded to land on our soil is a further example of this lack of respect for our jurisdiction. In September 2010, the Guardia Civil removed a suspect from RGP arrest after a stand-off in the Bay. They have interfered with military exercises and with visits by an American nuclear submarine. More recently, a merchant vessel anchored off the east side was told by the Spanish navy to leave the area because they were in Spanish waters.
WATERS
The string of incidents is continuous. It is clear that Spain wants to assert jurisdiction in our waters and that we cannot allow that to happen. This would be the thin end of the wedge.
As another National Day approaches we have to bear in mind that everything that has happened in the last twelve months, and indeed before that, is line with Spanish policy that Gibraltar has no waters and no airspace and that it all belongs to Spain. We totally reject that view and will continue to lobby Members of the UK Parliament and of the European Parliament in order to keep them informed of the issue. Indeed, our Liberal Democrat MEP for Gibraltar and South West England Graham Watson has already raised the issues of the designation and the incursions in Brussels a number of times.
As I write this message the frontier queue stretched to Eastern Beach.
SELF-DETERMINATION
However, all this said there is another constant which has been there for the last twelve years and from much before. This is our determination as a people to stand up to and reject the Spanish claim and to condemn the aggressive actions that they take against us in order to further it. In 2002, when we rejected shared sovereignty with Spain, we sent a message at the same time that Madrid should have no say in our affairs in any shape or form. This obviously includes a resounding “NO” to a so-called Andorra solution which is something that we totally reject.
We must move forward confident in our right to Gibraltar, our right to our waters and our right to self-determination. The Liberal Party is totally committed to continue the campaign at the United Nations and to take our agenda to whatever forum is prepared to listen. Our right to self-determination and the international recognition of a new decolonised status now assume even greater importance.
Twelve years on from when I joined our Parliament in 1999, the message to Madrid this National Day must be that Spain should drop their claim to our country. Our sovereignty is not and will never be a matter for discussion or negotiation with them.
Happy National Day!
08-09-11
No hand over of sovereignty to Spain, says Picardo
In a National Day pledge, the GSLP leader Fabian Picardo says they will never discuss or negotiate with Spain the sovereignty of Gibraltar, its waters and airspace. This is the message:
We are once again celebrating our National Day.
Although the 10th of September is a date that we rightly associate with a celebration, it is of course much more than that. What we are remembering is the result of the 1967 referendum and celebrating our identity as a people. We are also making an assertion of our political rights as a Nation and our right to Self Determination. The importance of that has not diminished just because we implemented a new Constitution in 2006.
We have always made clear that the political attempts to downgrade our National Day into a municipal and civic event are a mistake that erodes its massive political significance. We are therefore totally committed to re-establishing the National Day rally at Casemates, retain the celebratory atmosphere and enhance the whole event further. If we win the election due shortly, we will make that a priority for the 10th of September 2012, which will be the 20th anniversary of the establishment of National Day in 1992.
It is a pity that there is now a division in our Community about the manner and place of celebration of the National Day rally. The division was brought about by the decision to move the event to the smaller venue at the Piazza. We all know that we must be united as a people if we are to defeat those who would relish the disappearance of Gibraltar as a distinct Nation and who try to stifle our further progress in the process of decolonisation and the assertion of our rights.
The clear message that we have to send to those who challenge our right to our land is that the Spanish flag with never fly over any part of our Gibraltar. We in the GSLP have been, are and will always continue to be opposed to any discussion or negotiation of the Sovereignty of our Gibraltar with Spain. I have therefore made clear at the United Nations that our Sovereignty is only an issue for us and the UK, not a bi-lateral or a tri-lateral issue to consider in any forum with Spain.
For all of these reasons, I call on you to join the SDGG organised rally at Casemates on Saturday 10th September at 11am. I will be accepting the invitation sent to all the political parties by the SDGG to support their rally. I hope to see you there so that we can again together reassert our rights to determine our own future and that of this land of ours.
My regards and Happy National Day 2011!
"THE GSLP SOVEREIGNTY PLEDGE:
The Sovereignty of the Rock of the Gibraltarians, the Sovereignty of its territorial waters and the Sovereignty of its air space will never be discussed or negotiated with Spain, nor any part of it ever shared or handed over to Spain; NEVER, EVER!"
09-09-11
