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
2 - Gibraltar Incommunicado (1963–1979)
- 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
On 8 June 1969 Spain ordered the closure of the customs post and border gates between Spain and Gibraltar at La Línea. On 25 June the ferry service from Algeciras to Gibraltar was suspended with effect from 27 June, leaving the weekly BEA flight from London via Madrid as the only communication between Spain and the Rock. So began the fifteenth and longest siege of Gibraltar.
The British Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart commented in the House of Commons on 26 June that the interruption of the ferry service not only flouted ‘standards of international behaviour accepted by modern governments’, but also that it was in breach of the Treaty of Utrecht, which implies that there should be sea communication between Spain and Gibraltar. He accused Spain of subjecting the Gibraltarians to a policy of economic and psychological pressure. In an aide-mémoire handed to the Spanish Ambassador in London when he was summoned to the Foreign Office on 27 June, the Foreign Secretary said, prophetically: ‘… a policy of deliberate hostility against the inhabitants of Gibraltar can only be self-defeating … Her Majesty's Government find it impossible to understand what interests can be well served by severing all means of surface communications between two closely-linked communities …’.
If General Franco and, more particularly, his hard-line Foreign Minister Sr Castiella thought that a policy of isolating Gibraltar would both bring Gibraltar to its knees economically and result in the inevitable transfer of Gibraltar to Spain as the only path to its survival, they were clearly very much mistaken on both counts.
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- A Stone in Spain's ShoeThe Search for a Solution to the Problem of Gibraltar, pp. 7 - 19Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 1994