It always rather amazes me how a country which I dearly love, where I have lived all of my life can behave like a broken record when it comes to one issue. Of course I am talking about Gibraltar. This week it was revealed that Spain claimed that a performance by the Red Arrows over Gibraltar would be a “hostile act” and would take action if it went ahead. Britain backed down and the display was scrapped but the Ministry of Defence also cancelled a performance by the Red Arrows over Minorca which should taken place days earlier.
Spain behaved badly and it could be argued that Britain’s behaviour was little better as a result of its tit-for-tat decision over Minorca. Whatever anybody says, Gibraltar will always be a thorn in the side of Spanish/British relations. The fact that two countries, who are both members of NATO, were involved in a war of words over a Royal Air Force display rather underlines this state of affairs. I think it is a great shame. The simple truth is that Gibraltarians want to remain British. This is no fault of anyone.
The Spanish government just needs to accept this and move-on. Their bully boy tactics over Gibraltar over the last decades has done little to enhance the view of Spain on “the Rock”. The only way that Spain is ever going to get control over Gibraltar is by winning the hearts and minds of the people who live there. At the moment they are not doing a very good job.