Miliband in Gibraltar for historic talks
By Gabriel Huntley
Foreign secretary David Miliband will visit Gibraltar today for talks with his Spanish counterpart, Miguel Ángel Moratinos.
It will be the first visit by a Spanish minister to the British overseas territory in more than 300 years, since the peninsula was captured from Spain in 1704.
The British and Spanish foreign secretaries will be joined by Peter Caruana, the chief minister of Gibraltar, for tripartite talks following a recent dispute over territorial waters.
In recent months, relations have become tense with Spanish navy patrol ships entering the waters surrounding Gibraltar and carrying out checks on Gibraltarian vessels.
The government of Gibraltar responded by asking boats to ignore the Spanish ships and fire flares if approached.
In May the Royal Navy, which has a base on the peninsula, intervened by forcing a Spanish ship to retreat from the rock’s waters.
The status of Gibraltar has long been a bone of contention in relations between Britain and Spain. Gibraltar was officially ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain continues to assert a claim to the territory.
Gibraltar is home to 28,000 residents, the overwhelming majority of whom oppose suggestions of the territory being returned to Spain.
In 2002, 99% voted against sharing sovereignty with Spain in a referendum.
Following this, the British government pledged to respect the “freely and democratically expressed wishes” of Gibraltar’s population.
