Spain used a speech to the UN Committee of 24 on Monday to once again call on the UK to “demilitarise” Gibraltar.
In a short intervention in New York, Hector Gómez Hernández, Spain’s permanent representative to the UN, out the traditional Spanish position and complained that Gibraltar undermined Spain’s territorial integrity.
Spain, Mr Gómez said, was a “victim of a colonial situation” that created an “imbalance” between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar.
He referred to Gibraltar’s reliance on “cheap non-resident labour”, to tobacco smuggling, to the release of raw sewage into the sea and restrictions on artisanal fishing.
And he highlighted too increased UK military activity and investment in Gibraltar.
“Gibraltar is a British military base, a state of affairs that the UK places above the interests of its inhabitants,” Mr Gómez said.
“The UK, as the administering power, should put an end to military activities in the colony and demilitarise.”
The Spanish permanent representative said “the question” of Gibraltar must be resolved through bilateral negotiation between Spain and the UK in which the “interests” of the people of Gibraltar must be taken into account, adding that the process must be governed by the principle of territorial integrity and not self-determination.
“They do not have a right to self-determination,” he said of the Gibraltarians.
The Spanish ambassador stressed that the ongoing negotiation for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar was separate to its position before the UN and its call for bilateral talks with the UK on sovereignty.
The Spanish ambassador stressed that the ongoing negotiation for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar was separate to its position before the UN and its call for bilateral talks with the UK on sovereignty.