ETA Bombings May Mean Gibraltar Deal On Verge Of Collapse

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

26 June 2002

British Ministers close to the Anglo-Spanish negotiations over the sovereignty of Gibraltar have admitted that a spate of recent car bombings by the Spanish separatist group, Eta, may have destroyed any last possibility of the UK and Spain reaching an agreement over the Rock by the proposed July deadline.

Speaking to the Telegraph at the weekend, an unnamed ministerial source revealed that the major stumbling block now is likely to be the referendum which the British want to offer Gibraltarians on any agreement reached during the Anglo-Spanish talks.

The UK government is insisting that this is key to any deal, but the Spanish are now increasingly wary of the prospect, fearful that if Gibraltar is granted a referendum, Basque separatists will demand one too.

'If they grant one to Gibraltar it will make it harder to resist the Basques. In the current climate, there is no room for manoeuvre,' the Minister explained.

The UK newspaper reported that although Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw and his Spanish counterpart, Josep Pique met briefly at the European Council summit in Seville at the weekend, a formal meeting is planned for this week, in a last-ditch attempt to rescue the floundering talks.

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