Gibraltar Says, "Hands Off Our Rock!"

By Joe Garcia
GIBRALTAR, Aug 4 (AFP) - Gibraltar`s political leadership told Spain on Wednesday to keep "hands off our rock," as the strategic naval base celebrated its 300th anniversary as a British colony.
A motion unanimously passed with government and opposition support in parliament pledged "to resist and oppose" any transfer of Gibraltar`s sovereignty to Spain, which claims the tiny territory at the entrance to the western Mediterranean.
The motion asserted "the inalienable right to self-determination of the people of Gibraltar" which, it added, precludes both Britain and Spain "from negotiating our future other than at our request and with our consent."
House leader Joseph Garcia said it was time for Spaniards to realize "that they lost Gibraltar 300 years ago. Times have moved on. Our future can only be decided by ourselves, A small colonial people cannot be bullied by Spain."
But Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero made it clear that his country was not abandoning its historic claim.
"We have a problem 300 years old," he said in Menorca, where he is spending his vacation. "We have to approach it with caution, with tranquility and with dialogue -- we are going to give ourselves a little time, and we hope that we will be able to open an opportunity for dialogue."
Spain had protested the visit here of British Defence Secretary Geoff Hune, who was present during the parliamentary vote, and of navy chief Sir Alan West.
Madrid has strongly protested the celebrations here as an anachronism in a European Union committed to the free movement of peoples.
"It is strange in the 21st century that the military occupation of part of one member state by another should be commemorated within the European Union," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told the daily El Pais.
He insisted "the question of Gibraltar is fully open" and that he wanted "a realistic solution to Europe`s last vestige of colonialism."
Earlier, people dressed in the red and white colours of Gibraltar held hands for 15 minutes, forming a human chain around the Rock in defence of what they see as their birthright. The organisers estimated that 17,000 of the population of 30,000 took part.
Gibraltar`s chief minister, Peter Caruana, told parliament the anniversary was "hugely significant."
"We are proud of our history and make no apology for it," he said. He spoke of "the weakness of Spain`s claim to Gibraltar."
Opposition leader Joe Bossano said, "This is our homeland, and absolutely no one has the right to discuss our future unless we so desire."
The celebrations got underway overnight with music and all-night street parties.
At the stroke of midnight, a 15-minute fireworks display heralded the anniversary.
The climax of the festivities was to be a military parade in the evening at which the Royal Navy, which helped capture Gibraltar on August 4, 1704, was to be conferred the freedom of the territory.
Caruana told Spain`s Cadena Ser radio that the festivities were not meant "to celebrate the victory of one side or the defeat of the other," but had a "largely cultural character."
"We are celebrating 300 years of British sovereignty and all that it means for us," he said in Spanish.
Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, but has never given up its claim to the territory, which measures 6.5 square kilometres (2.5 square miles).
Nearly 99 per cent of the population rejected sharing sovereigny with Spain in a November 2002 referendum.