King of Spain asks for new Gibraltar agreement

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

Spanish King Felipe on Wednesday urged the U.K. government to work towards a new agreement on the future of Gibraltar and asked for greater certainty for the rights of Spanish citizens living in post-Brexit Britain.

King Felipe VI, currently on a three-day state visit to the U.K. with Queen Letiza, addressed peers and MPs at the House of Commons.

Felipe said despite “estrangements, rivalries and disputes” in the countries’ history, they are now relegated to the past.

“I am certain that this resolve to overcome our differences will be even greater in the case of Gibraltar, and I am confident that through the necessary dialogue and effort our two governments will be able to work towards arrangements that are acceptable to all involved,” he said.

However, the chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, quickly rebuffed the king’s comments.

He said Felipe’s comments suggested he was treating the British territory as one that could be “traded from one monarch to another” like a “pawn in a chess game” and urged him to understand that Gibraltar “will remain 100 percent British”.

First royal visit in 31 years

Felipe and Letiza started their U.K. engagements on Wednesday by meeting Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip -- who will soon retire from public duties.

It is the first state visit to Britain by Spanish royals in 31 years, following King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia’s 1986 visit.

The issues surrounding Gibraltar are also expected to be brought up by the visiting monarch during a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday.

Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, has been a source of tension between the two countries for decades.

With a population of around 30,000, Gibraltar was ceded to Britain by Spain under the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. In referenda held in 1967 and 2002, the Gibraltarian public widely rejected proposals for it to be governed by Madrid. Spain, however, continues to press its claims to the territory.

Spain earlier this year agreed to the EU’s ruling on Brexit negotiations that "no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom can be applied to the territory of Gibraltar without an agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom".

Felipe, addressing the UN in March, asked the U.K. to “end the colonial anachronism of Gibraltar with an agreed solution between both countries to restore the territorial integrity of Spain”.