Britain reaffirms commitment to Gibraltar

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to Gibraltar on Saturday and said it would fully involve the territory in its discussions with the European Union (EU) following last month’s vote to leave the bloc.

Johnson told chief minister Fabian Picardo in talks in London that Britain would never agree to the people of Gibraltar being transferred to the sovereignty of another state against their wishes, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Last month acting Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Spain would seek to jointly govern Gibraltar with Britain following the Brexit vote.

The peninsula on Spain’s south coast, a British territory since 1713 known to its 30,000 residents as “the Rock”, is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations. Spain has long claimed sovereignty over the enclave.

Johnson said in a statement: “The people of Gibraltar have repeatedly and overwhelmingly expressed their wish to remain under British sovereignty and we will respect their wishes. We will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their wishes."