Jul 24 - Government Welcomes Spanish Ex-parliamentarians' Views
The Government has welcomed the call by three senior Spanish politicians for Spain, the UK and Gibraltar to engage in dialogue. This call has been made public in a joint statement issued by former senior Spanish politicians Pepe Carracao, Rafael Roman and Salvador de la Encina.
It will be recalled that the trilateral forum for dialogue, which was established with the support of the then PSOE Government in Spain, was abandoned by the Partido Popular as soon as they came into office. This was followed by continuing attempts to reverse the agreements signed at Cordoba which the previous Spanish Government had entered into.
The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said:
“It is well known that both the United Kingdom and Gibraltar Governments remain fully committed to the trilateral forum. However, given the current impasse, we were happy to support the proposals for ad hoc dialogue as put forward by the then Foreign Secretary William Hague in April 2012.
“In order to further the cause of dialogue, I recently met in Madrid with all the political parties represented in the Spanish Parliament except the Partido Popular, who would not agree to meet me, and UPyD, who pulled out at the last minute. I have also been very pleased to meet with Spanish politicians in the area who are interested in dialogue. This includes the Mayor of La Linea Gemma Araujo and others with whom we have tried to work since we were elected into Government.
“This latest call for dialogue to replace confrontation is therefore a very welcome development which we trust will be seen as a sensible and positive way of having all relevant parties working together to improve the lives of the people who live in Gibraltar and in the Campo de Gibraltar.
“As I said in my recent article in El Pais, the time has come to talk about what unites us and not to concentrate on what divides us."
