Spain studies retaliatory measures against Gibraltar: report
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - Spain is studying retaliatory measures against the British territory of Gibraltar in an escalating dispute over fishing grounds, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said in an interview published on Sunday.
"The party is over," Garcia-Margallo told ABC newspaper, referring to years of softer policy on Gibraltar under the previous Socialist government.
The minister said Spain was mulling a 50-euro border-crossing fee and tax investigations of thousands of Gibraltarians who own property in Spain. A border fee would affect tourists and Gibraltarians who cross the border for work.
Spain was also considering closing airspace to planes heading for the airport in Gibraltar and changing rules to wring taxes from on-line gaming companies based in Gibraltar, he said.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/04/us-gibraltar-spain-idUSBRE97304220130804
History of Gibraltar.
Spain ceded the territory to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713.
Spain tried to regain control of Gibraltar, which Britain had declared a Crown colony, through military, diplomatic and economic pressure. Gibraltar was besieged and heavily bombarded during three wars between Britain and Spain but the attacks were repulsed on each occasion. By the end of the last siege, in the late 18th century, Gibraltar had faced fourteen sieges in 500 years. In the years after Trafalgar, Gibraltar became a major base in the Peninsular War. The colony grew rapidly during the 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming one of Britain's most important possessions in the Mediterranean. It was a key stopping point for vessels en route to India via the Suez Canal. A large British naval base was constructed there at great expense at the end of the 19th century and became the backbone of Gibraltar's economy.
British control of Gibraltar enabled the Allies to control the entrance to the Mediterranean during the Second World War. It was attacked on several occasions by German, Italian and Vichy French forces, though without causing much damage. The Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco declined to join a Nazi plan to occupy Gibraltar but revived Spain's claim to the territory after the war. As the territorial dispute intensified, Spain closed its border with Gibraltar between 1969 and 1985 and communications links were severed. Spain's position was supported by Latin American countries but was rejected by Britain and the Gibraltarians themselves, who vigorously asserted their right to self-determination. Discussions of Gibraltar's status have continued between Britain and Spain but have not reached any conclusion.
Since 1985, Gibraltar has undergone major changes as a result of reductions in Britain's overseas defence commitments. Most British forces have left the territory, which is no longer seen as a place of major military importance. Its economy is now based on tourism, financial services, shipping and Internet gambling. Gibraltar is largely self-governed, with its own parliament and government, though the UK maintains responsibility for defence and foreign policy. Its economic success has made it one of the wealthiest areas of the European Union.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gibraltar
= new reply since forum marked as read
financial services: - tax evasion, money laundering & worse...
shipping: - smuggling: UK press rarely reports that Spanish police boats often chase known & suspected drug smugglers into so-called Gibraltarian waters, where they are protected by Gib police who presumably receive a cut from the proceeds, thus provoking so-called 'incidents'...
Internet gambling: - exploitation of the poor and the addicted.
Gib is unilaterally occupying Spanish land (the isthmus) and water (in the Bay of Algeciras) not ceded under the Treaty.
Greetings from the Canary Islands: Not a colony: Part of Spain since the fourteenth century 
Edit: Welcome to DU.
