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Brussels process is alive, and waiting to kick, says book from the Spanish foreign ministry
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The Spanish Foreign Ministry have published a book entitled 'La Cuestion de Gibraltar'.
It is all about the Gibraltar question from a Spanish perspective, as everyone would expect.
No doubt copies will be rushed to the Instituto Cervantes, as soon as the institute opens in Gibraltar, before the end of the year.
The book assures all and sundry that the Spanish Government will not give up the sovereignty claim over the 'British colony'.
And that it will continue to discuss sovereignty bilaterally. In fact, it makes it plain that sovereignty is an issue for the Brussels process.
The book says that the arrival of the trilateral forum does not mean that the sovereignty issue has been resolved, or that Spain is going to abandon its historic claims over Gibraltar.
The Brussels process, it adds, is in force. And the solution must be found within the doctrine of the UN, which, according to Spain, says that Gibraltar should be Spanish, lest you have forgotten.
So, the world is being told that the Brussels process is alive - and waiting to kick.
The opening of the Instituto Cervantes is of special relevance, because Spain wants to counter what it sees as a downtrend in the use of Spanish by the Gibraltarians, and this does not favour the integration with the inhabitants of the Campo area.
So, even before the institute opens its doors we are being told that its presence in Gibraltar is more political than cultural, or if you prefer, that culture is seen as a means to political gain.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry, in their book, go on to make the point that under the treaty of Utrecht, the Rock was ceded to Britain "without territorial waters."
It also points out that it was ceded "without territorial jurisdiction".
In fact, it is the kind of book that could have been published during the years of dictatorship in Spain! Will they present a copy to the participants in the next tripartite talks?
The book, ?La cuesti?n de Gibraltar? and its contents will surprise many on the Rock where the three way talks, including the Gibraltarians, have over the past two years resulted in progress such as the joint use of Gibraltar Airport, says an English website in Spain.
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