Edward's Visit to Gibraltar Stirs Up Spanish Anger

On Tuesday night, the British citizens of Gibraltar celebrated the visit of Prince Edward to the 2.6 square mile British territory, which lies on the Spanish mainland, at the foot of Spain's southern coast, by projecting a giant image of the Queen on the rock facing Spain, which wants the British out of the territory.

The north face of the iconic rock, which is visible for vast distances across the South coast of Spain, was lit up for several hours Tuesday night with the Queen’s image and the Union Jack, while a band played, ‘Rule Brittania’.

The following day, it was announced that Spain's Ambassador to the UN will present a new report reiterating Spanish claims over the Rock, and calling for Britain to open talks to negotiate on the future of the British outpost.

"Spain will reiterate its position and talk about the how the situation has been developing in recent months," confirmed a spokesman at Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Daily Telegraph. "We will ask the UK to engage in conversation over sovereignty."

The Royal visit by the Earl and Countess of Wessex to the territory raised tensions in Spain. Jose Garcia Margallo, Spain's foreign minister, called the visit "inopportune" and Spain has recently lodged a formal complaint to the European Union over Gibraltar's 10 per cent tax regime.

A further act of provocation, in Spanish eyes, was the inauguration of Gibraltar's new airport terminal as the final official act undertaken by Prince Edward during his trip which ended Wednesday.

"We don't approve of what was obviously a symbolic show of sovereignty during a time when we should be working towards solving problems," a source in Spain's foreign office told the Telegraph.

Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in perpetuity under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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