Quote:
Originally Posted by rcaf_777
What would Spain have to gain by taking Gibraltar?
99% of people living in Gibraltar voted in 2002 for a British Government not a Spanish one.
So what dose the Spanish Government gain from taking this rock? Maybe this is another ploy to keep the UK in the EU?
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I believe they voted 98.7% for Britain and 1.03% for Spain, 96% also supported continued membership for Gibraltar of the EU during BREXIT. But Spain has had a techy relationship with Britain over the issue of Gibraltar since the 18th Century, and the Spanish are quite emotional over it and in fact so are the British. Even into modern times there has been a lot of border tensions between both parties over Gibraltar.
I think the EU law that now applies to Gibraltar with Spain retaining a right to veto future trade links between Gibraltar and the rest of the EU was not deliberate, and was done as an afterthought as nobody seriously expected Britain to leave the EU. But now we are here and the law is in extant and is causing a lot of political tension in Britain. The more hardline section of EU negotiators could cause Britain some trouble over this, and Spain is certainly not helping.
Lets not forget that Gibraltar is fairly important strategically, and it is a lot more important to both Britain and Spain and also much closer to Britain than the Falklands Islands.