King Felipe's UK visit: Theresa May says Gibraltarian sovereignty 'is not open to negotiation'
Thursday, July 13, 2017 @ 9:09 PM
BRITAIN'S stance over the sovereignty of Gibraltar is 'not negotiable', UK prime minister Theresa May told King Felipe VI today (Thursday) during the latter's visit along with Queen Letizia to the UK capital.
Felipe VI said yesterday that he hoped 'bilateral talks' between the governments of Spain and the UK would help 'seek a solution' which would 'work for the UK and EU and its other members, including Spain' and which 'also worked for Gibraltar'.
During the EU referendum held last June in Britain, 95% of the Rock's residents voted to remain, since cross-border traffic of goods and humans is vital for the survival of both the enclave and its nearest Spanish province, that of Cádiz.
Workers who live in Cádiz - which has an unemployment rate of around 55% - both Brits and Spaniards commute daily to Gibraltar, where the jobless figure is nearer 3% and huge numbers of both nationalities hold highly-paid technical, professional and managerial positions they would not be able to find easily, if at all, in Spain.
But Brexit could lead to a hard border between the two, as Gibraltar would no longer be in the EU whilst Spain would continue to belong to the club.
Former foreign affairs minister José Manuel García-Margallo said on the morning of the Brexit announcement that 'the Spanish flag would soon be flying over Gibraltar again'.
And it flew in British Parliament when Felipe VI spoke of 'the need to make an effort to find a compromise' between Britain and Spain.
But Theresa May made it clear the UK would not budge an inch.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com