Spain 'to take Gibraltar dispute to UN'

[alp227]

Source: UK Press Association

Spain will seek to take its dispute with the UK over Gibraltar to the UN with the support of Argentina, according to Spanish media.

The Spanish foreign minister, José García-Margallo, is expected to propose that both countries present a "united front" over Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, El País reported.

García-Margallo will sound out his Argentinian counterpart, Héctor Timerman, during a meeting in Buenos Aires next month as he prepares for a "180-degree turn in policy towards the colony", the newspaper said.

Such a move would be seen as an escalation in the diplomatic tensions surrounding the overseas territory.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/11/spain-gibraltar-dispute-uk-un

[earthside]

1. Ha! What about ...?

Oh, has Spain decided to cede the Canary Islands to Morocco?

No one should take the Spanish or Argentinians seriously on these disputes.

[ramblin_dave]

8. Melilla and Ceuta are closer analogies...

Melilla

Melilla is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco, with an area of 12.3 square kilometres (4.7 sq mi). Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of two permanently inhabited Spanish territories in mainland Africa.

[ConcernedCanuk]

15. "No one should take the Spanish or Argentinians seriously on these disputes."

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.
.

I think all disputes of this nature should be taken seriously.

That is not to say there is validity to each others clams, but to NOT pay attention invites disaster.

If I have a dispute with a neighbor, I handle it one way or another.

Ignoring a problem does not make it go away . . .

We know this

CC

[MarkLaw]

16. Seriously

The claims are obviously valid, just look at a map.

With Argentina it is more of a grassroots movement by the people who don't wish to have their resources stolen(OIL). With Spain it is about fish.

These areas were colonized with a gun. Time to go back to their original owners.

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. Did you miss something?

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.
.

from my post

"I think all disputes of this nature should be taken seriously."

I suspect you only read the title, not the content.

You've jumped on me before without thought.

Do it again and I'll put you on what I call "Brain Ignore"

I do not need the ignore function on DU

My brain can do that.

CC

[dipsydoodle]

2. Jokers.

Vain attempt by their government to distract their public from graft scandals and their economy.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

4. Exactly

It's the same thing Argentina tries to do with the Falklands.

[another_liberal]

12. Yes, that is true.

On the other hand, though, I would be quite happy to give Texas back to Mexico.

[Diclotican]

3. alp227

alp227

One of the reasons the spain government want to take the issue around Gibraltar to the UN now, is because it deflect a lot of the other issues that is facing spain, when it come to how to go forward with the economy - and all the corruption who have been documented have happened in the "boom years" before it all collapsed in 2007/08..

Of course they also have support from Argentina - as Argentina have a beef with UK too - around the future of the Falkland Islands...

Not that either Spain or Argentina have anything to gain, with it - it is more or less a way to "wage a diplomatic war against a nation from the outside to get the inside to support the government" and have always been used when the times is hard - and people is pissed of by the government.. It have worked many times for Spain over Gibraltar over the years - Franco was infamous for using Gibraltar as a building block to make him more popular in the ayes of the spanish people in the waining days of the dictatorship - when people got tired about the corruption and the fact, that Spain was seen as a pariah in the world community..
Argentina have also used the battle for the Falkland islands to beef up their own support in he population - even the generals of the junta tried that one - and when the generals lost the war - the population ended their support to them too.. I guess that it can go both way a war of words against the UK over the Falklands Islands...

I doubt either Spain or Argentina will getting what they want... As long as the Royal Navy have interest to attend to in the Meditarian I doubt that Spain will be getting any closer to Gibraltar than the border between the UK administrated area and Spain... And I also doubt that Argentina will getting their hands on Falkland Islands anytime soon either. Specially if it is a lot of oil in the ground, in the sea around the Falkland Islands... Even if it would be hard to get anything up from the deep sea - it is foreseeable if the proper technology is there - and I guess few country's can give that tech nessesary...

Diclotican

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. I can imagine the protest signs now. "Chuck the Rock at Spain".

[hrmjustin]

6. I doubt they will get anywhere with this.

[MisterP]

7. and Ceuta and Melilla?

[cpwm17]

9. Spain can go to hell

The people of Gibraltar and Falkland Islands should get the final say on which country they should live under.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perejil_Island


Perejil Island

The Perejil Island is a small, (about 480 by 480 metres) uninhabited rocky islet located in the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, 200 meters from the Moroccan coast. Its sovereignty is disputed between Spain and Morocco. It was the subject of an armed incident between the two countries in 2002.

[blackspade]

10. Oh please, allying yourself with Argentina is the last move you would want to make.

Argentina is pursuing a claim that has no merit based on the history of the islands.
Even Spain's continued claim to Gibraltar is pretty tenuous as it has been a UK territory since the 1713 Treaty of Utrect where it was signed over in perpetuity.

Neither place wants to change sovereignty so why are the pushing the issue now?

$$$$$

[formercia]

11. A distraction to divert attention from Austerity

and the fucked-up Economy in Spain and the EU in general.

Nothing like a Patriotic Hoo Ha....

[blackspade]

13. EXACTLY!

[Xolodno]

14. They should do the "Russian Solution"....with the Crimean port in the Ukraine.

...Let Spain (to their horror) have it back, and give the UK a 99 year lease. It will belong to Spain, but at the same time, the UK can keep its interests for the rest of the century. Granted that isn't exactly the Russian Solution...but it is similar. Long story short, force Spain to deal with its domestic issues.

[Nye Bevan]

17. Best solution to these disputes would be to pay off the residents.

Say that the 29,000 residents of Gibraltar would agree to become Spanish in return for a payment of $500,000 each. They keep their homes and all their property; the only change is that they now live in Spain. So Spain gets to acquire Gibraltar for about $15 billion, which seems extremely reasonable in the scheme of things.

[Bosonic]

19. Catalan separatists side with Gibraltar against Spain

(Reuters) - One of the main pro-independence parties in Spain's northerly Catalonia region has fuelled the country's growing row with Britain over Gibraltar after expressing sympathy with "bullied" residents in the British territory.

The separatist Esquerra Republicana party (ERC), a junior coalition partner in the Catalan regional government, wrote to Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo deploring the "improper" behavior of Spain's central government.

Tensions over the disputed British outpost on Spain's southern tip rose in late July amid a spat over fishing rights and border controls and are now at their highest level in years.

While Catalan support for Gibraltar's position is unlikely to have any influence on the outcome of negotiations between Britain and Spain, the letter is a reminder of the political rifts the Spanish government faces elsewhere - and of the risk that its tough stance on Gibraltar could backfire at home.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/13/us-gibraltar-spain-catalonia-idUSBRE97C0L420130813

[dipsydoodle]

20. Expect them to be joined by the Basque region

and elsewhere Venice in Italy.