Colony Is Between Spain and a Hard Place

GIBRALTAR — Jonathan Stagnetto is a true Gibraltarian: very British, of broadly mixed European ancestry and fiercely proud of this territory’s unique character.

Like many residents here, Stagnetto bitterly opposes any concessions to long-standing Spanish claims of sovereignty over this British colony. He fears that despite local resistance, London is tempted to dispose of Gibraltar as an unwanted legacy impeding greater British influence within the European Union.

Such fears skyrocketed last month when British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Britain was willing to establish joint sovereignty here with Spain.

“The identity of being Gibraltarian is British,” said Stagnetto, 37, a small-business owner. “It would be idyllic if we didn’t have to change. But it’s not nice to be clinging to the shirttails of someone who doesn’t want you.”

It remains unclear whether Britain really wants to get rid of this 2 1/2-square-mile territory, or whether it simply wants to be seen as engaged in serious negotiations with Madrid.

In his July comments, made to the British Parliament, Straw argued that an agreement would benefit Gibraltar by ending uncertainty over its future and smoothing its relations with Spain.

“The dispute is also damaging to Britain’s interests because we are trying to build a strategic alliance with Spain to help deliver the EU we both seek,” Straw added. Making air travel safer, cheaper and with fewer delays is one area in which improved British-Spanish cooperation would help, he said.

Historically, French-German ties have often been seen as central to EU developments. Many observers say London and Madrid are now trying to build a similar relationship to push reforms they favor.

Yet under British proposals made so far, it is difficult to envision a scenario in which Gibraltar actually ends up being turned over to Spanish control.

Straw stressed in his comments to Parliament that a joint sovereignty deal must be permanent, not a stepping stone toward full Spanish control, and that any agreement would require the approval of the people of Gibraltar in a referendum.

But Spain has repeatedly said it will never give up its demand to eventually recover full sovereignty.

Gibraltar was captured by a joint Anglo-Dutch force in 1704 and ceded by Spain to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. The treaty included a condition that if Britain ever left the territory, Spain would have preference “before any others” in recovering it. That provision has been used to argue against Gibraltar’s becoming independent, as many former British colonies have.

Though Gibraltar’s economy once was largely dependent on the military base here, it has become an international financial center and tourist magnet. Its once working-class downtown district is now a pedestrians-only street full of trendy shops, restaurants and visitors.

Almost no one thinks the people of Gibraltar would vote in favor of any agreement that transferred even partial sovereignty to Spain, which Stagnetto called “our unfriendly neighbor.”

Stagnetto, who was born in Gibraltar, reflects this place’s history and its forging of a new identity. His ancestry, he explained, is “Italian, Maltese, Welsh, Irish, Portuguese, German--and apparently there’s some Spanish there.” Like most of Gibraltar’s 30,000 residents, he speaks English, Spanish and a mixed language sometimes called Gibraltarian and sometimes called Spanglish.

To preserve Gibraltar’s uniqueness, and to underline local opposition to any concessions to Spain on the sovereignty issue, the territory’s government has already announced plans for an autumn referendum.

Straw acknowledged that a deal is far from certain.

“Unless we and Spain can resolve the outstanding issues, then plainly there will be no agreement, [but] in 12 months of negotiations we are now closer than ever before to overcoming 300 years of fraught history,” he said.

One of the key stumbling blocks is Britain’s determination to keep its military base here, at a point that overlooks the passage between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The territory stretches Britain’s military reach toward the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Gibraltar “is 1,000 miles nearer any potential hot spots than the south coast of the U.K.,” said Maj. Chris Pugh, media operations officer at the base. “It gives us that steppingstone if required to launch something from here.... We do a certain amount of intelligence-gathering here. To sit on a choke-point is quite handy for that.”

The talk of shared sovereignty has sent chills through Gibraltar’s residents.

“British or independent, we don’t mind, but we don’t want to be Spanish,” said Peter McKay, 16.

“We want to be Gibraltarians and be friendly with Britain and with Spain,” added his friend Darion Corbacho, also 16. “I think the ones that should be speaking are us. The British and Spanish are talking, [but] the ones who will suffer the consequences are us.”

Across the narrow isthmus that connects “the Rock”--a 1,396-foot-high limestone mountain--to Spain, support is strong for recovery of Spanish sovereignty.

It is important to “stop having a colony of one member state [of the EU] in another member state,” said Juan Carlos Juarez Arriola, mayor of La Linea, the Spanish border town abutting Gibraltar. “As a first step, shared sovereignty is a good option.”

Spain’s demand for recovery of Gibraltar “is a historical claim

Manuel Correra, 58, a retired police officer in Gibraltar, called Straw’s comments in Parliament “such a silly, stupid statement” and predicted that an agreement on dual sovereignty is impossible. “I think it will be a stalemate actually, now and for the next few generations,” Correra said.

Many here see hypocrisy in Spain’s demand for the return of Gibraltar while it insists on keeping its own North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the Mediterranean coast, surrounded by Morocco. Spain sent gunboats in July to enforce its claim to a tiny uninhabited island near Ceuta after a dozen Moroccan soldiers landed there and raised their country’s flag. The two countries later agreed to restore the status quo by withdrawing all forces from the island.

Keith Azopardi, deputy chief minister of Gibraltar, said he believes that Britain wants “a period of time when they hope that the Spaniards use a carrot, and they intend to use a stick, to persuade the people of Gibraltar to take this deal.” But voters here would never back joint sovereignty, which could undercut the option of an independent future, he aid.

“Why should we have a solution imposed on us?” Azopardi said. “This, instead of being decolonization, would be recolonization and the substitution of one colonial power by two. Everyone else gets decolonized except the people of Gibraltar. It’s legal nonsense, and nonsense in the context of modern times.”