By IPS Correspondents
MADRID, Jul 25 2002 (IPS)

Gibraltar Chief Minister Peter Caruana announced Thursday plans to hold a referendum in October to allow the residents to express their views on the question of shared British-Spanish sovereignty over the rocky outcrop at the southern tip of Spain.

Britain, which had earlier stated its willingness to share sovereignty over Gibraltar with Spain, proposed Wednesday converting a British military base in the peninsula into a NATO facility.

Although Britain would maintain control over the base, the move would give the armed forces of Spain, as a NATO member, access to the base.

“British minister for Europe Peter Hain made it clear that any referendum that the British government did not help organise would lack validity,” said Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, after Caruana made his announcement in a news briefing.

The rock of Gibraltar, a peninsula that is located on the straits of the same name in southern Spain and is key to controlling sea traffic between the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic ocean, was seized from Spain by the British in 1704. Since then it has been a thorn in relations between the two countries.

In the Treaty of Utrecht, signed by the monarchs of Britain and Spain in 1713, Spain yielded “to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging.”

The same treaty established that “the above-named propriety be yielded to Great Britain without any territorial jurisdiction and without any open communication by land with the country round about.”

It also stated that “in case it shall hereafter seem meet to the Crown of Great Britain to grant, sell or by any means to alienate therefrom the propriety of the said town of Gibraltar, it is hereby agreed and concluded that the preference of having the sale shall always be given to the Crown of Spain before any others.”

On Oct 16, 1964, the United Nations ruled that “the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples” was fully applicable in the case of Gibraltar.

In that resolution, the United Nations invited the governments of Spain and the United Kingdom “to resume without delay the negotiations…with a view to putting an end to the colonial situation in Gibraltar.”

London had refused to negotiate sovereignty over the tiny but strategically located territory until November 2001, when talks with Spain began.

Two weeks ago, London agreed to the concept of shared sovereignty, under which the residents of Gibraltar would maintain their British nationality, but would have the right to Spanish nationality as well.

However, Gibraltar’s elected authorities are opposed to the talks between Britain and Spain, and say the local citizens should decide on any changes in the legal status of the disputed territory. The great majority of residents are also opposed to the idea of shared sovereignty.

Caruana said preparations for the referendum would get underway immediately, and that it would be monitored by international observers.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that converting the military base into a NATO facility did not imply a change in British policy.

“I don’t think we have changed our mind at all,” said Blair, referring to the question of the military base. “It remains under British control. If it is for NATO purposes or any other purposes, it is only with British consent and British sovereignty.”

In recent years, Spain has made efforts to gain the confidence and trust of the 35,000 people of Gibraltar, increasing the number of telephone lines threefold and offering improved health care for the people of Gibraltar in state hospitals across the border.

Madrid has also negotiated improvements in the pensions of Spanish citizens who work on “the Rock” but live in Spain.

The concessions are part of Madrid’s aim to convince the people of Gibraltar that they stand to gain more than they would lose if sovereignty reverted back to Spain.

Since the start of the dialogue on Gibraltar between Spain and Britain, authorities from the two countries have insisted on a policy of “two flags and three voices,” to invite Caruana to participate in the talks, although not on an equal basis.

However, the Gibraltar official has refused to attend the meetings.

All of Spain’s parties back the claim of full sovereignty over Gibraltar, and those who have accepted a formula of shared sovereignty see it merely as a first step in a longer process.

In Britain, meanwhile, the opposition Conservative Party is opposed to any yielding at all on the question of sovereignty.

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