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Opposition questions 'new era of dialogue'
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The Opposition yesterday issued the following statement:
"The Spanish Foreign Ministry has told the media that Madrid has made fourteen official protests to the United Kingdom regarding the eastside reclamation in Gibraltar. The last of these protests was made just over four months ago in October.
"In its last note of protest, the Spanish Government says that they have told the United Kingdom that the reclamation project is a violation of Spanish sovereignty, given that the water from which land was reclaimed are Spanish waters. The Spanish position is that under the Treaty of Utrecht Spain ceded to the United Kingdom only the waters inside the Port of Gibraltar and no other sea.
"The Spanish Government has also said that under EU law Spain is entitled to receive all the relevant information about the reclamation project and even to be ?invited to participate? in the environmental impact assessment into the project.
"The Opposition considers that the detailed information about the protests which has been published in Spain serves only to give credence to the report and suggests that the comments are accurate and from official sources.
"The Spanish Government, in the same report, has also said that it refuses to discuss this matter with the Government of Gibraltar. It is totally incomprehensible that we should constantly be told that there is a new era of dialogue and understanding between Gibraltar and Spain, and yet at the same time Madrid refuses to even discuss this matter with the Gibraltar Government.
"Spanish politicians, like Senator Carracao, have defended the eastside project on the basis that it is going to create more jobs for persons on the Spanish side of the border who are looking for employment. In such circumstances it is a bit rich for the Spanish Government to make fourteen protests about this project when their own nationals are the ones who are more likely to do well out of it.
"It was announced in Spain yesterday that unemployment increased by 200,000 persons in January of this year. Against this background, given their need for jobs and that the benefit from the jobs created will be greater on their side of the border, the Spanish Government should be welcoming the eastside project and not protesting against it!"
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