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The National Interest
The Rock Gets Rolled: A Letter from Gibraltar
by Joe Garcia
. . . Is there light at the end of the diplomatic tunnel for this centuries-old Anglo-Spanish confrontation? Proposals by a former chief minister, Sir Robert Peliza, to fully integrate Gibraltar with Britain were rejected by the British Government in the 1970s. The concept of Gibraltar becoming a "Royal City State" within the European Union was promoted in 1992 by the Gibraltar Liberal Party, but without success. Now, a thorough revision of the Constitution has been undertaken by an all-party committee of the mini-parliament here to remove the remaining vestiges of colonialism and gain greater self-government within the British umbrella. But Gibraltarians do not want to boot the British off the Rock and, indeed, any proposed constitutional change will be put to London.
Meanwhile, as Britain and Spain persevere with their talks over joint sovereignty for Gibraltar, Mr. Caruana has opined that the Andorra model may be the sort of solution Gibraltarians could support. He says this not because he wants to be a prince, but because the Principality of Andorra, sandwiched between France and Spain high up in the Pyrenees (those other rocks), "represents full self-determination for the people of Andorra, with sovereignty vested in its people." He added: "Andorra is in no sense a part of Spain nor of Spanish sovereignty. It is an autonomous territory." So what is the problem? "Unfortunately, the modern Andorra model is unacceptable to Spain", Mr. Caruana told me in his Convent Place office. Madrid does not accept self-determination or real autonomy for Gibraltar. . . .
Nonetheless, the Gibraltar government has decided to go it alone and organize an internationally-supervised referendum in late October. It is understood as a pre-emptive strike against the looming Anglo-Spanish deal "to make Gibraltar's view on joint or any Spanish sovereignty absolutely clear", as Mr. Caruana puts it. Madrid has condemned the Rock's proposed referendum, and so has London. So Gibraltar and its people face yet another siege - only this time the British government is not standing like a rock on their behalf. It rather seems reduced to gravel.