Gibraltar Expected to Spurn UK-Spain Sovereignty Proposal

"Do you approve of the principle that Britain and Spain should share sovereignty over Gibraltar?"

That’s the question facing some 20,683 registered voters in the British colony of Gibraltar as they head to polling booths to answer with a simple "yes" or "no."

It’s easy to guess which way the vote will swing on the bustling streets of the peninsula which is famous for its white rock. With Union Jacks and "no" banners draped over the balconies of most houses, there is a visible lack of support in favor of the plebiscite.

The tiny territory’s overwhelmingly British identity is obvious in typical British stores like Marks & Spencer, signs outside cafes saying "Truly British fish and Chips" and stores selling Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee plates along the main streets.

Controversial plebiscite

Organized by the government of Gibraltar, the controversial referendum is intended to thwart any agreement on the colony’s future that may emerge from long-running talks between Spain and Britain.

"The people of Gibraltar will reject massively tomorrow the principle of joint sovereignty regardless of what is in the rest of the package," Chief Minister Peter Caruana told a crowded news conference a day before the vote. "Joint sovereignty is an untried, untested and we believe a dangerous concept."

Gibraltar’s tangled sovereignty issue

The roots of the peninsula’s problem with sovereignty date back to the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, under which Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain. According to the terms of the peace treaty, Britain was allowed to retain Gibraltar as long as it wanted to, but if the crown decided to voluntarily give up the territory, it would automatically become a part of Spain. So far the historical treaty hasn’t stopped the Spaniards from attempting to recover the peninsula attached to its southern coast.

In recent years, the Gibraltar issue has often cast a shadow over otherwise friendly relations between Britain and Spain. It even obstructed a European Union agreement on a single airspace.

Joint sovereignty plagued with woes

After months of talks between Britain and Spain, in which the Gibraltar government was not included, things came to a head in July after British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announced that the British government was, in principle, in favor of sharing sovereignty over Gibraltar with Madrid.

But the agreement is not without its share of tricky issues.

While the British want joint sovereignty of Gibraltar to be a permanent solution to the problem, the Spaniards are prepared to accept it only as a temporary solution. Spain refuses to give up forever its sole right to Gibraltar and believes that the peninsula will belong fully to Spain in the future.

Spain anathema to Gibraltarians

But the idea of belonging, even partly, to Spain, is unpalatable to the majority of Gibraltarians.

Journalist Paco Olivia of the "Gibraltar Chronicle" told DW-RADIO that the root of Gibraltar’s problems is an emotional and psychological one. "That’s because the people are scared and the political culture has always served a picture of Spain as one of a monstrous aggressor that is about to swallow you."

Most Gibraltarians still remember the years of Spanish dictator Franco's reign (1939 - 1975) when he completely sealed the border between Spain and Gibraltar with the intention of isolating the peninsula and ruining its economy.

The barbed wire fences that were put up at this time separated families and friends much like the Berlin wall. By the mid 1980s Gibraltar was totally cut off and could only be reached by air or by ship. It was only in 1985, ten years after the death of Franco, that Spain opened its border to Gibraltar once again.

Blair faces flak over colony

Though both Madrid and London are adamant that the present referendum lacks any legal value, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is under pressure at home to respect the wishes of the people of Gibraltar.

The Gibraltar referendum caused a row in the British Parliament on Wednesday when opposition conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to abide by the result of the referendum and abandon his "grubby deal" with Spain.

"I happen to believe that it (a lasting deal on Gibraltar’s future) is in the interests of the people of Spain, the people of Britain and the people of Gibraltar," Blair said. "However... there can be no change in the constitutional position of the people of Gibraltar without their express consent," he added.

Spain has been less charitable in its view of the referendum. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has termed the plebiscite "illegal and irrelevant."

If as widely believed, the Gibraltarians give a thumping thumbs-down to joint sovereignty by Britain and Spain over their territory, it will be the clearest sign yet that the Gibraltarians feel more British than ever despite their geographical proximity to Spain.