Spaniard makes historic visit to Gibraltar

Gibraltar, Jul 21 (EFE).- Spain's foreign minister met here Tuesday with his British counterpart and with the head of Gibraltar's local administration in the first visit by a Spanish Cabinet official to the British colony.

For the first time in 300 years of contention over the sovereignty of Gibraltar, a delegation headed by Miguel Angel Moratinos crossed the border separating the British territory from the Spanish mainland to attend a meeting of the dialogue forum with the governments of Britain and the colony.

After a luncheon, Gibraltar Chief Minister Caruana showed to Moratinos and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband the extent of the territory from the "Top of the Rock" balcony, where the trio joined hands smiling for photos with Gibraltar and the Bay of Algeciras in the background.

A score of demonstrators gathered at the border where the Spanish delegation crossed displaying a sign saying "For the dignity of Spain. Let's not throw 300 years of firmness by the wayside."

Moratinos's visit and his crossing of the border - which Spain closed from 1969 to 1985 during the period of its greatest estrangement from Britain over the matter - is an historic moment, since it is the first official visit by a Spanish minister to the colony in 300 years.

At a joint press conference following the talks, Moratinos said that the Spanish claim over the sovereign of the Rock "cannot be waived," although he added that the way out of the disagreement leads through "cooperation and dialogue" with Britain and the people of Gibraltar.

"The problems will be resolved through dialogue and cooperation. We're in the 21st century and we have to look to the future and not look to the past," the Spanish minister added.

Moratinos emphasized that Spain's claim on the British colony is "permanent," but he acknowledged that the conditions to resume negotiations about the matter, interrupted in 2002, are still not in place.

"We will deal with the sovereignty (issue) at the proper time, when we believe that the conditions are the most appropriate and when it will be the most beneficial for seriously advancing to the conclusion of the problem," he said.

At the meeting between the colonial, British and Spanish delegations, the plan is to conclude several accords on maritime and environmental cooperation, fighting organized crime and visas.

The visit by the Spanish foreign minister crowns five years of a policy of cooperation pursued by the Socialist government of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero with Gibraltar and Britain, during which the discussion of sovereignty over the Rock has been kept to the side.

For Spain's main opposition conservative Popular Party, Moratinos's visit is the "greatest renunciation" of sovereignty over Gibraltar ever made by any Spanish government.

Gibraltar is a territory of 5.5 square kilometers (2.1 square miles) on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It has been held by Britain since 1704 and became a British Crown Colony in 1713.

The Rock currently has some 30,000 residents, who overwhelmingly rejected a 2002 proposal for Britain to share sovereignty over the territory with Spain.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, but Madrid continues to press its claim to sovereignty over the Rock, Europe's last colony. EFE