Feb 12 - Government Responds To Margallo’s “Extraordinary Tirade”
The Government of Gibraltar notes what it describes as the “extraordinary tirade” by Spanish Foreign Minister Snr Margallo in the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Spanish Parliament last night.
During the course of his interventions, Snr Margallo:
- admitted having contacted the organisers of the Nueva Economia Forum in Madrid to put to them why the Chief Minister should not be allowed to address the said Forum;
- said that he did not recognise and no Spaniard should recognise the office of Chief Minister;
- added that everything the Chief Minister of Gibraltar said was untrue;
- said that the Instituto Cervantes should not be located in Gibraltar because Gibraltar is Spanish soil and that its removal is being considered, contrary to the agreements made at Cordoba;
- said that apart from the monkeys, everyone in Gibraltar spoke Spanish; and
- said that he is seeking to suspend the application of the Single Skies 2 package to Gibraltar, contrary to the agreements made at Cordoba.
Commenting on the statements made by Snr Margallo, the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: "Snr Margallo's statements really speak for themselves, for what Snr Margallo represents. There is no need for me to say anything further. I am very pleased however to see the statements from Junta de Andalucia Deputy President, Snr Jiménez Barrios, Junta delegate to Cadiz Snr Lopez Gil, Fernando Silva, PSOE Candidate to the Mayoralty of Algeciras, Inmaculada Nieto of Izquierda Unida in Andalucia and Aitor Esteban of PNV, all deprecating the position of Mr Margallo and advocating a return to dialogue. Last week, Snr Lopez Garrido of the PSOE went further and called for a return to the Trilateral Forum. Snr Margallo's position appears increasingly to be a radical and isolated one that has gained no traction beyond the Partido Popular."
