By John Smith • Published: 25 Feb 2020 • 10:43
The Minister with the mayors Credit: Diputación de Cadiz
AS Britain, Gibraltar and Spain get ready for their first Joint Committee meeting in Algeciras, the eight mayors on the towns in the Campo de Gibraltar travelled to Madrid for a meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya.
According to a Ministry spokesperson, the minister assured the visiting mayors that the defence of the interests of the Campo de Gibraltar would be a priority in future negotiations on relations with the UK post-Brexit, with the aim of creating a zone of shared prosperity.
Clearly those towns with high unemployment are desperate to ensure that Brexit will not cause any loss of jobs because of difficulties in crossing the border and asked the minister for an assurance that ease of cross border activity will be maintained.
Many Spanish workers do not currently hold passports and rely on ID cards to allow them to cross into Gibraltar and if the Spanish government refuses to recognise Gibraltar ID cards from 2021 as has been mooted, it is likely that Gibraltar will insist on entry by passport only.
According to the Spanish press, another matter discussed was the possible shared use of Gibraltar airport which was originally suggested by the Blair government but was never well-received in Gibraltar as it would appear to give Spain the right to have control over access to the airport from and to Spain.
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Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
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