ABSTRACT
Anglo-Spanish talks on Gibraltar did not begin favourably in 1981. In January, Sir Ian Gilmour, the Lord Privy Seal, visited Madrid for talks with Spanish Foreign Minister, Señor Perez Llorca. The talks were stated by Sir Ian not to involve negotiations over Gibraltar’s future but were to concentrate on two other areas of Spanish foreign policy, namely, the difficulties standing in the way of Spanish negotiations to join the EC in the near future and proposals relating to Spain’s possible membership of NATO. However, even if by now overshadowed by questions of Community politics, Gibraltar was discussed; if for no other reason than because of Spanish displeasure at the Gibraltar House of Assembly resolution of 30 December 1980. Señor Perez Llorca demanded equality for Spaniards going to the Rock, in anticipation of their rights after Spain became a full member of the EC, as a condition for reopening the frontier with Gibraltar. He called upon the British Government to induce the Gibraltarian authorities to make such changes as were necessary to achieve this for otherwise, he argued, if Spain was to unconditionally reopen the frontier its citizens would find themselves disadvantaged on the Rock. Sir Ian’s response was to claim that it was a ‘myth’ that Spaniards would face discrimination in Gibraltar if Spain was to reopen the frontier and assured the Spanish Government that Britain was remaining true to the Lisbon Agreement and that negotiations on Gibraltar’s future would begin simultaneously with the lifting of Spanish restrictions on the Rock. Questioned as to whether the failure to obtain a rapprochement constituted a backward step, Sir Ian maintained that there had ‘been no going back, at most we have not gone forward’. In short, disagreements arising from Clause 3 seemed to have rendered the Lisbon Agreement unworkable and
left the impasse in Anglo-Spanish relations on the question of Gibraltar’s future as deep as ever.
