Gibraltar's brutal seven-word Spain slapdown as minister labels nation a 'disappointment'
Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo made the comments as negotiations with Spain over post-Brexit border issues stall, but he insisted an agreement will soon be completed if progress is made in good faith.
The leader of Gibraltar said he is saddened by the dogmatism which prevents the creation of shared prosperity with Spain, as a post-Brexit deal potentially bringing free movement between them stalls.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia picked up by Europa Press, Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said "Spain is an opportunity, but also a disappointment" as he fired back at right-wing figures in Spain who continue to push long-standing territorial claims.
He also fired back at common accusations thrown at Gibraltar, insisting: "We are not smugglers and Gibraltar is not a tax haven," insisting that the peninsula complies with the obligations of financial transparency.
Asked if the question of sovereignty is a barrier to reaching an agreement with Spain to regulate Gibraltar's relationship with the EU after Brexit, Picardo said the talks go beyond that, and said he regretted that "the Spanish right and far-right maintain the spirit of the reconquest of Gibraltar".
Though Gibraltar's formal international relations and defense are the responsibility of the Government of the United Kingdom, it is self-governing in all other matters.
Picardo said the territory's location at the entrance to the Mediterranean brings a "great responsibility, the same as for Algeciras and Tangiers."
"There is no other place like it in Europe and Africa," he added, saying a deal will soon be completed if progress is made in good faith.
Spain has long argued that taxation in the British colony and Campo de Gibraltar across the border, should be similar, and is thought to be one of the main sticking points in the talks, The Diplomat in Spain reports.
Gibraltarians want VAT to stand at just 10 percent in their territory, while in Spain it's 21 percent. Some of the proposals being negotiated have suggested raising VAT to 15 percent to bring greater parity, sources told the outlet.
Gibraltar is also a more attractive location for many companies due to its corporate tax rate, which is 10 or 12 percent, compared to around 30 percent on average in Spain.
Picardo defended Gibraltar's uniqueness in justifying its tax approach: "It cannot have the same tax regime as Spain, because then we would not be able to create the shared prosperity to which we aspire."
Hopes for a resolution ending years of uncertainty for the Rock following the UK's exit from the European Union spiked in April, when Picardo said London and Brussels were within "kissing distance" of a deal able to guarantee free movement over the border between Gibraltar and Spain.
However, talks on the thorny issue of the border appear to have stalled once again, with the last high-profile meeting in May involving officials from the Rock, London, Brussels and Madrid failing to mention "significant progress" on border checks.
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Gibraltar: Fabian Picardo discusses meeting with Spain in May
With a new European parliament being formed following the June 6-9 elections across the 27 member states and a change in the leadership of EU institutions, discussions around Gibraltar have been further delayed.
Picardo said last week that he wants people who live in Gibraltar but work in Spain to be able to cross the border without issues, as he wants families split between the Rock and its neighbouring province in the Mediterranean country to see each other "as seamlessly as possible".
He said London and Gibraltar have already done "a lot of work" on local border traffic regulations in line with the Schengen code as a fallback option should a treaty never be reached.
However, he branded a similar solution "unambitious", adding in an interview to the Gibraltar Chronicle: "I'm not going to start negotiating for a solution that's good if I can still see a route to the best solution. The route to this treaty does not pass through a comfortable alternative.
"And the reality is that we may fail to do a treaty, and we may also fail to agree a local border traffic arrangement."
The full application of the Schengen border code, he went on to explain, would entail "massive difficulties", and the Government of Gibraltar would need to apply the same rules to crossings from Spain to Gibraltar "more in sorrow than in anger", being left with no choice.
He added: "And we can't rely on the potential that there might be a local border traffic solution that might potentially be agreed."
Mr Picardo warned that "sorrow might turn to anger quite quickly" should there be no agreement to make border crossings as smooth as possible between Spain and Gibraltar.
He added: "If the talks fail, they'll probably fail because I will have to explain to the people of Gibraltar the things that we have found unacceptable in the context of these discussions. And then the atmosphere will become very difficult, very quickly.
"I think there are certain fundamentals that we have to protect, and I can only bring back a treaty that's safe and secure. And the safety and security analysis passes through whether the fundamentals are protected or not.
"And that's the Gibraltar economy, it's the safety and security of the people of Gibraltar through an immigration system that stands up to scrutiny, both in terms of the removal of parts of the frontier fence and how Schengen security is done at our entry points. It’s complex, very complex. Complexity like never before."
