Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgement
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Gibraltar Incommunicado (1963–1979)
- 3 The Lisbon Agreement (July 1979–April 1980)
- 4 Spain's Approaches to NATO (June 1980–March 1982)
- 5 ‘Different and Distant’? The Falklands/Malvinas dispute (April–May 1982)
- 6 Spain Joins NATO (May–June 1982)
- 7 The Border Remains Closed (June–October 1982)
- 8 Felipe Opens the Gates (October–December 1982)
- 9 Towards the Brussels Declaration (March 1983–November 1984)
- 10 The Border is Fully Opened: Negotiations Get Under Way (January–February 1985)
- 11 Osmosis Begins (February–November 1985)
- 12 Sovereignty and Sovereigns (December 1985–April 1986)
- 13 Into Felipe's Second Term: Guards and Gates (June 1986–January 1987)
- 14 The Battle over the Airport (January–December 1987)
- 15 Gibraltarians Vote to Resist (December 1987–March 1988)
- 16 First Visits by First Ladies (April–October 1988)
- 17 The Bossano Strategy (January–February 1989)
- 18 Spain's Role in Death on the Rock (March–April 1989)
- 19 A European Hong Kong? (May–December 1989)
- 20 Tackling Money-laundering and Smuggling (February–December 1990)
- 21 Felipe Visits London (January–May 1991)
- 22 Four More Years for Joe Bossano (May 1991–January 1992)
- 23 The External Frontier Issue Remains Unresolved (February–November 1992)
- 24 Conclusion
- Appendix 1 The Treaty of Utrecht: Extract from Article X
- Appendix 2 The Lisbon Agreement
- Appendix 3 The Brussels Declaration
- Appendix 4 The Government of Gibraltar
- Bibliography
- Index
19 - A European Hong Kong? (May–December 1989)
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgement
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Gibraltar Incommunicado (1963–1979)
- 3 The Lisbon Agreement (July 1979–April 1980)
- 4 Spain's Approaches to NATO (June 1980–March 1982)
- 5 ‘Different and Distant’? The Falklands/Malvinas dispute (April–May 1982)
- 6 Spain Joins NATO (May–June 1982)
- 7 The Border Remains Closed (June–October 1982)
- 8 Felipe Opens the Gates (October–December 1982)
- 9 Towards the Brussels Declaration (March 1983–November 1984)
- 10 The Border is Fully Opened: Negotiations Get Under Way (January–February 1985)
- 11 Osmosis Begins (February–November 1985)
- 12 Sovereignty and Sovereigns (December 1985–April 1986)
- 13 Into Felipe's Second Term: Guards and Gates (June 1986–January 1987)
- 14 The Battle over the Airport (January–December 1987)
- 15 Gibraltarians Vote to Resist (December 1987–March 1988)
- 16 First Visits by First Ladies (April–October 1988)
- 17 The Bossano Strategy (January–February 1989)
- 18 Spain's Role in Death on the Rock (March–April 1989)
- 19 A European Hong Kong? (May–December 1989)
- 20 Tackling Money-laundering and Smuggling (February–December 1990)
- 21 Felipe Visits London (January–May 1991)
- 22 Four More Years for Joe Bossano (May 1991–January 1992)
- 23 The External Frontier Issue Remains Unresolved (February–November 1992)
- 24 Conclusion
- Appendix 1 The Treaty of Utrecht: Extract from Article X
- Appendix 2 The Lisbon Agreement
- Appendix 3 The Brussels Declaration
- Appendix 4 The Government of Gibraltar
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
By mid-April 1989 the IRA terrorist issue had receded, but as the year wore on there was little sign of progress on any of the major areas of disagreement. The British Government's desire to let sleeping dogs lie by not upsetting Madrid led to an angry statement by Chief Minister Bossano, when military manoeuvres scheduled to take place off Gibraltar on 13 May were cancelled in case the Spanish Government interpreted them as a provocation. The official reason given for their cancellation was that it was decided that the manoeuvres, involving commandos parachuting into waters close to Spain, were not militarily necessary. However, the decision to cancel came following Foreign Office advice to the Ministry of Defence. The British military involved were clearly none too pleased at having their activities interfered with for what they saw as political reasons, but their displeasure was matched by that of Joe Bossano, who issued an official communiqué stating that the Government of Gibraltar did not share London's opinion about Madrid's possible reaction, and that in any case such considerations should not interfere with matters involving the defence of Gibraltar. For its part, the Spanish Government refused to comment.
At the beginning of June 1989 comparisons between Gibraltar and Hong Kong re-emerged, although this time they were prompted by the Gibraltarians themselves rather than by Spaniards looking for parallels. The cause was the Tiananmen Square massacre in Peking, when the authorities put down the embryonic pro-democracy movement in China in brutal fashion. The future of Hong Kong after 1997 was uncertain in any case and was now further threatened by the events in Peking.
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- A Stone in Spain's ShoeThe Search for a Solution to the Problem of Gibraltar, pp. 162 - 167Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 1994