As an agreement on a deal for Brexit, fudged and unsatisfactory though it is, is just about ready for final approval, the Spanish government has come up with new demands about the British territory of Gibraltar. In short, the Spanish are threatening to withhold their approval unless the UK agrees to giving Spain a guarantee of a special say in any arrangements regarding Gibraltar and its future.
What a bloody cheek !!
Gibraltar has been a British territory for more than 300 years and, while Spain may not like it, its people have no desire to be Spanish. The Spanish stance is little different to that adopted by Argentina over the Falkland Islands or other similar disputes that arise from time to time. What the Spanish reaction be, for example, if Portugal laid claim to its former North African colony of Ceuta which was ceded to Spain in 1668 ?
Quite clearly, the Spanish government has seem an opportunity to use Brexit for its own nationalistic purposes, just as the government in Dublin has done. If Mrs May does anything other than tell the Spanish to get lost, she will have failed the UK, Gibraltar, and everyone who values democracy.
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