16 June 2016•Update: 16 June 2016
By Alyssa McMurtry
MADRID
British Prime Minister David Cameron landed in Gibraltar Thursday afternoon, but due to the shocking murder of the British Labour MP Jo Cox, his historic visit was cut short.
Cameron was the first British Prime Minister to visit Gibraltar since 1968, but his plans to hold a controversial rally against the Brexit in the rocky enclave in Southern Spain were suspended after the attack near Leeds.
The government of Gibraltar expressed support for Cox and her family in a press release, saying cancelling the rally was the “right decision” although the public would be understandably “disappointed.”
The original purpose of Cameron’s visit was about much more than trying to convince Gibraltar’s 22,000 registered voters to stay in the EU. Nearly everyone in Gibraltar already wants Britain to stay— a recent poll in the Gibraltar Chronical suggests 94 percent. More likely, Cameron’s purpose was to highlight the danger that Britain’s often forgotten colony in Europe may face if Britain were to leave the EU.
Gibraltar, a tiny British enclave on Spain’s southern tip, would be in an especially precarious position if Britain were to exit the EU. It has been a British colony for more than 300 years but its government has warned a Brexit may pose an existential threat to the tiny enclave.
Demonstrating the tension surrounding Gibraltar, Spain’s government disapproved of Cameron’s presence in Gibraltar. Thursday morning Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told Spanish radio that his government “does not like” the visit.
“What’s being debated is whether the UK remain in the EU or will leave the EU, and the campaign for that should be conducted in the UK, not in Gibraltar,” said the acting Prime Minister.
“Spain continues to think that Gibraltar is part of its own national territory, not Britain’s,” said Rajoy on the radio Thursday.
- Brexit would reopen question
In 1968 Spain imposed a devastating blockage of Gibraltar’s borders which weren’t fully reopened until Spain joined the EU in 1986.
“At that time, the U.K. was insisting on the opening of the border and if Spain wished to join the EU and gain U.K. support, Spain had to abide by EU rules,” Dr. Gerry O'Reilly, International Affairs Co-ordinator at Dublin City University, told Anadolu Agency in March.
“Hence those U.K. government arguments would be turned upside-down in the event of a British exit from the EU.”
In March, Spain’s foreign minister said he would reopen the question of Gibraltar “the very next day” in case of a Brexit. The European Commission has been instrumental in shutting down other Spanish “aggressions” towards Gibraltar, such as trying to implement border crossing tolls in 2013.
While Gibraltar’s population is only around 30,000, it has a GDP approaching $2 billion and is strategically located in the Mediterranean Sea.
