Gibraltar Says NO

8^th November 2002

GIBRALTAR (Reuters) - British-Spanish negotiations on the future of Gibraltar have been left hanging after Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected a proposal for shared sovereignty in a referendum.

Although Thursday's referendum is not binding and the Spanish government described it as "illegal", Gibraltar officials believe it will be difficult for London in particular to ignore the strength of feeling among the British colony's 30,000 people against sharing sovereignty with Spain.

"We hope the British government will now take note of this and honour their commitment to respect the wishes of the people of Gibraltar," Gibraltar's Chief Minister Peter Caruana told a news conference on Friday.

Caruana, who called the referendum to demonstrate the strength of local opposition to the British-Spanish negotiations, earlier urged London to abandon any idea of joint sovereignty in the wake of the crushing referendum result.

"Massive 'no' puts Blair on the spot," the Gibraltar Chronicle's front page headline said, referring to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and has been trying to recover it ever since.

On a heavy turnout, almost 99 percent of the more than 18,000 Gibraltarians who cast valid votes opposed Britain giving Spain a share of sovereignty over its colony attached to Spain's southern coast.

Only 187 voted in favour of the idea as Gibraltarians showed their firm determination to remain British. British or Gibraltar flags hung from hundreds of windows on polling day and hundreds of people waving British flags gathered at election headquarters to cheer the result at 2:40 a.m. British time.

But security officer Eric Rowbottom, who voted "no" in Thursday's referendum, said the referendum result was not about wanting to be Spanish or English.

"It's (about) what the British government and Spanish government were trying to do with the joint sovereignty of Gibraltar," he said. "They can't ignore us just like that. We were born here in Gibraltar. My grandfathers are buried here."

UK ACKNOWLEDGES CONCERNS

Europe Minister Denis MacShane acknowledged on Friday that many Gibraltarians had serious concerns about a dialogue with Spain.

"But the fact remains that there can be no stable future for Gibraltar while the dispute with Spain continues and important issues remain unresolved," he said in a statement.

"We have always made clear that there will be no change to Gibraltar's sovereignty without the consent of the people of Gibraltar in a referendum," he added.

The Spanish government played down the vote, with Foreign Minister Ana Palacio calling it a "virtual consultation which doesn't resolve Gibraltar's problems" and which had no legal effect.

"We will go on talking to try to seek a solution that resolves the historical dispute and takes account of the interests of the residents," she told Onda Cero radio.

In London, Conservatives called for the Labour government to scrap the joint sovereignty proposal.

But what may carry more weight with Blair's government was a report on Thursday by an influential cross-party committee of British legislators which launched a scathing attack on London's Gibraltar policy.

Parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee said Britain's approach was misguided and it should sit up and take note of the residents of "The Rock".

The committee said London was wrong to negotiate sharing sovereignty as there was no prospect of Gibraltarians agreeing.

Caruana called the report a "scathing indictment" of the Foreign Office's approach to Gibraltar.

In any case, diplomats say, the British-Spanish negotiations on Gibraltar have been stalled for several months. Key stumbling blocks are over control of its strategically important naval base and over Britain's commitment, opposed by Spain, not to implement change against the wishes of the Gibraltarians.

Britain also wants any joint sovereignty agreement with Spain on Gibraltar to last indefinitely while Madrid sees it as a step to full sovereignty, diplomats say.

Additional reporting by Mike Peacock in London.