Despite Landmark Agreement, Representatives of Spain, Gibraltar Disagree over Next Steps Concerning Territory’s Decolonization, as Special Committee Reviews Status
Despite a recent landmark agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom bringing the question of Gibraltar to a historic juncture, the representative of that Territory and the delegate of Spain disagreed on steps forward concerning the decolonization of that Territory, as the Special Committee on Decolonization met today.
Gibraltar is 1 of 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories that remain on the list of the Special Committee. The 29-member Committee — formally known as the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples — was established in 1961 by the General Assembly, as its subsidiary organ devoted to the issue of decolonization. Every year, it reviews the list of territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government. Today, it met to consider the question of Gibraltar, a Territory in Europe with a population of 34,003 and a land area of 5.8 square kilometres, whose administering Power is the United Kingdom.
The long history of this dispute began after the military conquest of Gibraltar by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in 1704, Spain’s delegate told the Special Committee. He recalled the expulsion of the Indigenous population of Gibraltar and the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 by which his country ceded the city and castle of Gibraltar, along with its port — but only its internal waters, defenses and fortifications were ceded, he stressed. Spain did not cede the water surrounding the rock, nor the isthmus illegally occupied in the nineteenth century, nor the supra-adjacent space. Today his country continues to be a victim of a colonial situation that severely affects its territorial integrity, he said. He recalled Assembly resolution 2353 of 1967 calling for the decolonization of Gibraltar on the basis of the principle of territorial integrity and stressed that the principle remains relevant.
11 June Agreement between European Union, United Kingdom Aimed at Improving Lives of Gibraltar’s Over 300,000 Inhabitants
In more recent history, “the interests of the inhabitants of Gibraltar were affected by the British decision to abandon the European Union”, he said, which dragged the Territory into a complex legal situation with the European Union and Spain on one side and the United Kingdom on the other. Fortunately, last week, on 11 June, in Brussels, the European Union and the United Kingdom announced a political agreement concerning Gibraltar, whose main objective is to guarantee coexistence and prosperity throughout the region. “The fence will fall,” he said, adding that all physical barriers will be removed and this will guarantee the free movement of people and goods between Gibraltar and the surrounding area. The airport will be open to both United Kingdom and Spain flights. Ultimately, this agreement is aimed at improving the lives of the more than 300,000 inhabitants of the area, especially the thousands of cross-border workers, he pointed out, hoping that the agreement will ease the inequalities caused by the colonization of Gibraltar.
Again, he reiterated his country’s call on the United Kingdom to address the decolonization of Gibraltar with full respect for the principle of territorial integrity. These calls have their precedent in General Assembly resolutions starting in the 1960s, which invited both parties to begin negotiations without delay, he pointed out.
Chief Minister of Gibraltar: Principle of Self-Determination Takes Legal, Moral Precedence over Spain’s Claims
However, Fabian Picardo, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, dismissed “irrelevant references” to General Assembly resolutions from the 1960s about Spain’s territorial claim to Gibraltar. Those resolutions originated at a time when Spain was not a democracy and ruled by General Francisco Franco, he said, adding: “The representatives of today's modern and progressive Spain should reflect with embarrassment on their reliance on a dictator's legacy.”
“You must disregard everything you have been told repeatedly by Spain,” he advised the Committee, adding that the principle that matters here is the principle of self-determination. The inalienable right of Gibraltarians to decide their own future within the internationally recognized boundaries of their territory takes legal and moral precedence over its neighbor’s claims. “We take huge comfort from the Chagos opinion of the International Court of Justice,” he said, noting that the Court held that the right to territorial integrity of Non-Self-Governing Territories is a natural consequence of the right to self-determination. “The whole of our territory — isthmus and waters included — must remain intact during the decolonization process,” he stressed.
At the same time, he, too, welcomed the 11 June agreement about how Gibraltar’s relationship with the European Union will be regulated. Under the new arrangements, “I can see a new and more positive relationship between us and Spain,” he said, speaking of a future with better jobs, more investments and stronger relations. “We will no longer have border controls between us as we join a common travel area with Schengen,” he said, adding that Gibraltar and Spain will cooperate in trade, immigration and law enforcement, without any prejudice to their respective positions on sovereignty. Regardless, none of this will change Gibraltar’s “choice to remain 100 per cent British,” he said, adding: “From the northernmost tip of our land to the southernmost extent of our waters, we will never give up one grain of our land, one drop of our water or one breath of our air.”
He also called on the Decolonization Committee to “stop doing nothing” just because Spain continues to make its medieval claim. The Committee must start planning a visiting mission. In a second exchange, he added that the 1713 Treaty cannot take precedence over the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea. Further, the International Court of Justice advisory opinion concerning the Chagos Archipelago made it very clear that “it was not possible to sever a territory in the process of decolonization”, he said, hoping that the agreement last week would result in stronger human partnerships — “the sort of human partnership that existed before the Spanish civil war”.
Representative of Spain: 11 June Agreement Will Create New Model of Peaceful Coexistence But Is Not a Substitute for Real Negotiations
Taking the floor a second time, Spain’s delegate said that, while the agreement reached within the European Union will serve to create a new model of peaceful coexistence between the inhabitants of Gibraltar and their neighbours in the Campo de Gibraltar, it is not a substitute for the real negotiations that should take place, as mandated by the United Nations, concerning the colonial situation affecting his country.