  |
Spanish fishermen want to return to fishing as in the past
|
No sooner had the Spanish fishermen returned to the Campo after Monday's meeting, that they were taking a negative view about the outcome of the meeting held at No.6 Convent Place.
As we reported yesterday, the head fisherman for Algeciras was saying that what mattered was not negotiating compensation, but being allowed to continue to fish in the waters of Gibraltar.
For them, the waters of Gibraltar are deemed to be Spanish, as they have often heard that Gibraltar does not have territorial sea and that the waters surrounding Gibraltar are Spanish.
Thus the foreign Office, and more specifically the British Ambassador in Madrid, needs to stress to the Spaniards that the waters surrounding the Rock have been described as British waters for centuries. This must be understood if progress is to be made.
Meanwhile, the head fisherman of La Linea was making the point when he went back that they have been fishing in the Gibraltar waters for as long as he could remember.
For the moment, he said, there is no agreement, and it won't be possible while the Gibraltarians want to extend the no-fishing zone beyond the present 225 metres.
He added: They now expect us to apply for licences - but don't have we got our Spanish licences - now they want us to have another one for Gibraltar.
DOUBTS
And so the doubts increased.
Meanwhile it emerges that the Spanish foreign minister and the British ambassador have been having unannounced meetings in Madrid about the fishing.
After they had met it became known that the Spanish foreign minister wants Britain to put some order in Gibraltar - as if Gibraltar remained a colony as in centuries past.
It is to be wondered what pressure, if any, the foreign office will put on the Gibraltar government. They might forget everything they have been saying about the new constitution and about the non-colonial relationship between London and Gibraltar!
SOVEREIGNTY
In the final analysis, it all boils down to jurisdiction, control and sovereignty. The Spanish foreign minister knows this and was saying that nobody wanted the situation to get to the point where they would be getting involved in such matters.
The point is that if Madrid refuses to recognise that the waters are British, and the fishermen carry on fishing in those waters, discussing or not discussing matters of sovereignty become academical as, in practice, the Spaniards would be exercising such rights, if they have their way, as if the waters were theirs!
During the GSD days in government, the Spanish government started to take an active position on sovereignty. Yet, even in the days of Franco, they respected that half the bay was British.
Hence, Gibraltar is now in a worse position than before, which is why most people think that we have to be extra careful that the Spaniards do not make headway in what is a particularly sensitive and important matter.
|
|
|
|
