Tom Powell
FORMER Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has called for ‘cross-border cooperation’ in a defiant keynote speech in the Campo de Gibraltar.
A staunch defender of dialogue with Gibraltar, the PSOE’s Moratinos was introduced by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo in San Roque on Monday evening.
In a rousing speech, he slammed the PP government’s current aggressive stance to the Rock and insisted it was ‘bad for trade’.
“The Campo de Gibraltar could be one of the biggest economic zones in Europe because of its strategic location,” he said.
“Some would say it’s crazy that an ex Spanish minister is stood here talking about how we can help Gibraltar. But 300 years on from the Treaty of Utrecht it should be normal to seek good relations without being accused of disloyalty.
“The first thing the new Spanish government needs to do after the elections should be to talk to Great Britain and Gibraltar about a strategic plan to work together,” added Moratinos.
Fabian Picardo reiterated how Spain’s current ‘mean-spirited’ policy was damaging for the general Campo de Gibraltar area.
He told the Olive Press: “The PP government is as mean-spirited as it is negative. Rajoy has failed his party and the people of the Campo de Gibraltar.
“We all fail from this confrontation… and I hope that if the PSOE wins the election in December our similar socialist principles will create better dialogue and stop seeing us turning our backs against one another.”
Moratinos played a central role in the negotiations that led to the signing of the Cordoba Agreement in 2006, as he endeavoured to end centuries of confrontation and tension that produced no positive results.
However, since the PP came to power, Foreign Secretary Jose Margallo has run a continually ‘negative’ campaign against Gibraltar.
It has led to countless incursions in territorial waters, uncertainty increased queues and further problems for Spanish workers on the Rock.
Great pity that Spain doesn’t have more politicians like Moratinos.