THE delays to the border at Gibraltar has been going on for weeks, with some visitors waiting up to six hours just to get through passport control.

Images sent from the border show old and young sitting in hot cars, in heat of up to 35c, with nothing to eat and drink – and the UK is angry. Threatening to sue because Spanish action breached European Union law.

Boris Jonson, Mayor of London, stepped into the row this morning by claiming that the tensions are “politically motivated” and a diversionary tactic to the Barcenas/Rajoy scandal.

Speaking to the Telegraph he said; “Forget all this palaver about a few concrete blocks that have been dumped in the sea. That isn’t why the Spanish are going back to the Franco-style blockade. This isn’t a row about fish. I am afraid that this is a blatant diversionary tactic by Madrid, and though it would be ludicrous to compare the Rajoy government with the tyranny of General Galtieri and his invasion of the Falklands, the gambit is more or less the same.”

Last week Number 10 claimed David Cameron had secured a promise from his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, to scale down the border controls, but the Spaniards immediately contradicted Britain’s version of events.

Even today people were waiting up to three hours to pass into the UK overseas territory.

Subscribe to the Olive Press

20 COMMENTS

  1. I could accept the Spanish governments point that they are trying to catch smugglers if they were checking people leaving Gibraltar, but stopping them upon entering as well shows them up to be the corrupt lying not to be trusted B’s that they are. Hardly a day goes by without another of their corrupt PP members being found to have trousered thousands of Euro’s in illegal payments. We now hear that one of their retired Generals advocates the Spanish defence forces stopping Royal Navy ships calling at Gibraltar, thankfully he is retired or we could end up with an actual shooting war instead of a war of words.

  2. spanish people are now targeting brits in the costas and having a face-off and telling them to “go back home” – this happened to my neighbour whilst shopping at Mercadona……

    I suspect that a lot of us brits will choose another destination next year – somewhere were our cash is warmly welcomed!!

  3. @ den

    If true very sad news, I had hoped that the vast majority of Spaniards would see Rajoy’s actions for what they were a cynical attempt to divert attention from his corruption scandal. The fact that they are now essentially saying go away we don’t want your money we want to return to being a third world country living on potatoes and rice is very disturbing. I wonder if your ordinary Spaniard is aware of how much British citizens contribute to the Spanish economy, it must run into billions. One bright spot one of the party’s from Catalonia has sent a message of support to Gibraltar.

  4. Why in hell should ever the Spanish give up what’s theirs or accept conditions imposed on them by force? The pertinent treaty makes very clear that the town of Gibraltar is ceded as a property and without any jurisdiction whatsoever. Also the issue of the territorial waters is expressly mentioned as being just those of the port the ones ceded. Furthermore, the UK has encroached beyond the limits of the original cession. The fact the the UK hasn’t honored the terms of the treaty and persists in its relentless misrepresentation is more than enough to warrant any reprisals the Spanish may want to take. It hasn’t done yet because the UK and the USA flout international legality to their convenience and the UN resolutions (Gibraltar, Western Sahara, Israel, etc…). Should the issue be taken to an international court, both sides would have to agree beforehand on what constitutes a fair court and to accept their rulings as binding. Obviously the venue where they only find criminals of war among nations which lost a war is not a fair venue. The winners of WWII and justices of Nüremberg didn’t think of sitting justices from non beligerant nations since they rather had a show trial than real due process.

  5. It’s no secret that British were basically pirates who could colonize the world thru guns and sophisticated weapons. But this is 21st century and the world has moved on. Britain is no longer the top military power. Therefore , they will have to cease their claims on their remaining colonies at some point in future. Giving away Hong Kong to China is one one example.

  6. when the Treaty of Utrecht was drawn up there were no air or sea boundaries these came later through the UN and were accepted by National Governments throughout the world.

    the test in those far off days was the length or distance of a cannon shot. Gibraltar territory was seen then to be well into Spain as the fortress cannons could easily reach well into the Campo Gibraltar up to and well beyond Campamento. That’s why the people who freely left Gibraltar at the time took up residence in San Roque !! out of the range of the cannon shot from Gibraltar, in case there was another siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniards.

  7. The only people suffering this ridiculous shameful spiteful and undemocratic episode by the Spanish political forces is the poor people of La Linea and the Campo area who throughout these ‘SIEGES’ which are politically motivated always have to suffer. These poor unemployed people who have had their pedal bikes and scooters confiscated by the GC and PN for trying to pass through the Spanish Frontier a few extra packets of cigs so that they have a few euros to buy ‘pan e queso’ for their families. The Spanish Government are targeting their own poor people and those rich politicians up in Madrid don’t care a dam.

  8. It’s sickening that so many Spanish believe the politicians and their claim of innocence when it comes to corruption. So many politicians, local and national, are busy ‘feathering their own nests’ and hate anything which disturbs this, such as the current well-publicised theft of EU cash. The Gibraltar issue is a very convenient ‘whipping boy’ which can be raised at will to get a surge of support from the easily-led sections of Spanish society, forming a very effective smoke screen which obscures the enormous scandal of theft on a grand scale.
    The excuse of smuggling checks at the Gibraltar border of family cars is laughable when one considers that Spain is a major exporter of drugs to the rest of Europe, drugs flowing in via ports from Galicia to Barcelona almost without hindrance but no border checks entering France. Why? too many people in power getting a rake-off. Here we are talking billions of euros, not a few packets of cigarettes or bottle of whisky.
    These people have absolutely no conscience about the effect Gibraltar border checks are having on ordinary families, local Spanish workers, etc., they are too busy counting their illicit gains to worry about such minor matters, they are ok and always will be and that is why GIBRALTAR WILL ALWAYS BE BRITISH!!!!!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.