Spain–United Kingdom relations

Spain–United Kingdom relations, also called Spanish–British relations, are the bilateral international relations between Spain and the United Kingdom. Both countries are members of the Council of Europe and NATO. Spain is a European Union member and the United Kingdom is a former European Union member.

Spanish–British relations

Spain	United Kingdom
Diplomatic mission
Spanish Embassy London	British Embassy Madrid
Envoy
Ambassador Carlos Bastarreche	Ambassador Alex Ellis[1]

History

Main article: History of Spain–United Kingdom relations

The history of Spanish–British relations is complicated by the political and religious heritages of the two countries. Neither the United Kingdom nor Spain have a unique constitutional ancestor; Britain was originally created by a union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland (and later joined by Ireland), whilst the Kingdom of Spain was initially created by a union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon (and later joined by Navarre). For centuries, the role of England, and subsequently Britain, in Iberia was coloured by the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance. Relations with Portugal always have been closer than those with Spain, and Spain and Britain have gone to war twice^[when?] over Portugal's independence. Relations have also been complicated by the fact that the United Kingdom and Spain were both imperial powers, often after the same land, an occurrence which is being played out to this day with the disputed ownership and status of Gibraltar.

During the turn of the 19th century, Anglo-Spanish relations were at a low point.^[2] Spain remained neutral in the First World War.^[3] During the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939, the Conservative government in London was neutral, and took the lead in an arms embargo against both the Republican government and Franco's Nationalists.

Postwar

The British Labour Party opposed Franco and after it came to power in 1945 relations were frosty.^[4] After Franco died in 1975 and the democratisation movement gained power, relations grew friendly, and trade and tourism grew rapidly.^[5]

Present day

In the present day, Spain and the United Kingdom maintain civil relations, both being members of NATO, and the OECD. They share a number of regulations due to their previously shared membership of the European Union, several of which remain in force in the UK after its exit from the bloc.

Gibraltar

The Rock of Gibraltar.

Main article: Disputed status of Gibraltar

The status of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in relations between the two nations, dating back to the conflicts in the early 18th century. The official status of Gibraltar is that of a British overseas territory. Captured by Dutch and British troops in 1704, king Philip V of Spain transferred the territory to Great Britain in 1713 under the terms of Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht.

In two referendums, held in September 1967 and November 2002, the people of Gibraltar rejected any proposal for the transfer of sovereignty to Spain. The 2002 referendum was on a proposal for joint sovereignty which at one stage was supported by the UK Government.
Considering the Gibraltarians decolonisation subjects, Spain asserts it is a bilateral issue between sovereign nations on the grounds of the "territorial integrity" clause UN Resolutions, which according to Spain prevails over the right to self-determination to the colonists themselves.^[6] On the other hand, Gibraltar's authorities consider Gibraltarian people the legitimate inhabitants of the territory, and therefore entitled to the self-determination right in compliance of the same United Nations' resolutions. Gibraltar's 2006 Constitution Order endorsed and approved by Her Majesty's Government states:

Her Majesty’s Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes.^[7]

In 2008, the UN 4th Committee rejected the claim that a dispute over sovereignty affected self-determination, which was a basic human right.^[8]

From May 2000 to May 2001 HMS Tireless moored in Gibraltar, for repairs on the cooling system of its nuclear reactor. The presence of the nuclear vessel in Gibraltar caused outrage among environmentalists and strained relations between Spain and the UK.^[9][10][11]

In February 2002, the UK formally apologised when a unit of Royal Marines accidentally invaded La Linea de la Concepción's beach instead of Gibraltar's where their planned military training was to be conducted.^[12][13]

In 2004, Spain and the United Kingdom established the Tripartite Forum for Dialogue on Gibraltar, with equal representation of both countries and the British Overseas Territory.

Waters around Gibraltar, declared by the United Kingdom as territorial waters according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (to a three-mile limit),^[14] and claimed by Spain,^[15][16] are another source of contention, with the Government of Gibraltar actively backing the British position naming the disputed waters as "British Gibraltar territorial waters".^[17] In December 2008, the European Commission approved a Spanish request designating most of the waters around Gibraltar as one of Spain's protected nature sites under EU law. This decision is being currently challenged in the European Court of Justice by the Government of Gibraltar, backed by the British government. The Commission will defend its position and, in doing so, will be backed by Spain^[18] In May 2009 Gibraltar authorities complained about the presence of a Guardia Civil Maritime Service vessel into the three-mile waters around Gibraltar, escalating to the intervention of Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron and a diplomatic protest by the Government of the United Kingdom.^[19][20] Further incidents occurred in November 2009, and in February 2019.^[21][22]

Gibraltarians celebrate the Gibraltar National Day in 2013

In July 2009 Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Gibraltar to meet the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and Gibraltar's chief minister, Peter Caruana, becoming the first Spanish official to visit the territory since Spain closed its consulate in Gibraltar in the 1950s. The sovereignty issue was not dealt with, given its controversial nature, and the three-way talks focused on other subjects such as cooperation on the environment, maritime matters, and ways of further facilitating the Moroccan community in Gibraltar to transit Spain en route to and from Gibraltar and Morocco.^[23][24]

In December 2009, a Guardia Civil launch entered the Gibraltar harbour. Three armed officers landed in Gibraltar illegally and, along with a fourth, were arrested by the Royal Gibraltar Police.^[25] Many such incidents occur, with a more recent event being the arresting of Gibraltarian fisherman inside the waters of Gibraltar, confiscation of equipment and transfer of the individuals to Spain. This was strongly condemned by the UK Government,^[26] and the UK's method of quiet diplomacy with Spain was criticised by a local newspaper, which called for more 'open' diplomacy.^[27]

Between January and November 2012, around 200 incursions by Spanish vessels into Gibraltar waters were recorded, as opposed to 23 in 2011 and 67 in 2010. In December 2012, one day after an incursion by a Spanish warship, a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate, HMS Sutherland arrived on a scheduled visit. Rather than taking on stores and fuel and proceeding as had been planned, the frigate and its Merlin helicopter conducted a patrol of Gibraltar waters as a message.^[28]

The intensity of the disagreement about Gibraltar has been perceived in different ways by the two countries. According to former Spanish prime minister Felipe González, "For the British, Gibraltar is a visit to the dentist once a year when we meet to talk about it. For us, it is a stone in the shoe all day long".^[29]

Fishing dispute

The United Kingdom and Spain have had several recent disputes over fishing rights, particularly with regards to the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy. When Spain became a member state in 1986, it had the world's sixth largest fishing fleet,^[30] and much of the economies of Galicia, Asturias, and Cantabria depended upon catches by Spanish boats outside Spain's national Exclusive Economic Zone, just as they do today.

To prevent the fleets of other EU members (particularly Spain) taking up the UK's Common Fisheries Policy quota, the UK sought to create a framework that discriminated between British- and Spanish-owned boats, regardless of flag flown, so that its waters wouldn't be over-fished by foreign-owned trawlers. Due to fishing's importance to some of the regional economies of Spain, the Spanish government protested vehemently, but had no power to prevent the UK determining its own domestic policies. However, when the Single European Act was implemented, in 1987, this became illegal under EU law, and a Spanish company successfully challenged the right of the British government to prevent Spanish fishermen taking up the British quota in what has now become known as the Factortame case. In total, £55m has been paid out by the British government to Spanish parties (both public and private) for loss of earnings.^[31]

To this day, the large Spanish fishing fleet does the majority of its fishing outside Spain's EEZ, as far away as Canada and Namibia.^[32] Nonetheless, a large part of its business comes from fishing in the waters of northern Europe, particularly those of the United Kingdom and Ireland. At times of debate of the United Kingdom's declining fish stocks, this has caused strained relations between Spain and the UK, and particularly between Spain and the membership of the devolved Scottish institutions, since Scotland is more dependent upon fishing than the rest of the UK.

Scotland and Catalonia

Scotland held a referendum on independence from the UK on 18 September 2014. In November 2013 the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had stated that an independent Scotland would have to reapply for membership of the European Union, causing considerable irritation to the Scottish Government.^[33] Relations between the Spanish and British governments deteriorated further when the Scottish Government alleged that a senior UK Treasury official visited Spain ostensibly to co-ordinate British and Spanish opposition to the independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia.^[34] Rajoy was one of the few European heads of government to explicitly voice opposition to Scottish independence, primarily due to his fears that it would encourage the separatist drive in Catalonia.^[35] On the issue of Catalan independence, Prime Minister David Cameron had said that "I don't believe that, in the end, [it's right to] try to ignore these questions of nationality, independence, identity"... I think it's right to make your arguments, take them on and then you let the people decide" though he also added that "I would never presume to tell people in Spain how to meet these challenges themselves; it's a matter for the Spanish Government and the Spanish Prime Minister."^[36]

Migration

Main articles: British migration to Spain and Spaniards in the United Kingdom

The 2001 UK Census recorded 54,482 Spanish-born people living in the UK.^[37] In comparison, it is estimated that 990,000 British-born people live in Spain.^[38][39] Of these, according to the BBC and contrary to popular belief, only about 21.5% are over the age of 65.^[40]

In 2011, Spanish migration to the UK went up 85%.^[41] As for 2012, it was recorded that 69,097 Spanish-born people live in the United Kingdom.^[42] On the other hand, in the same period 397,535 British-born people were living in Spain^[43]

Twinnings

The list below is of British and Spanish town twinnings.

• Carmarthen, Wales and As Pontes, Galicia
• Chesham, England and Archena, Region of Murcia
• Edinburgh, Scotland and Segovia, Castile and Leon
• Glasgow, Scotland and Barcelona, Catalonia
• Kilmarnock, Scotland and Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Catalonia
• Lymington, England and Almansa, Castilla–La Mancha
• Manchester, England and Córdoba, Andalusia
• Nuneaton and Bedworth, England and Guadalajara, Castilla–La Mancha
• Peterborough, England and Alcalá de Henares, Community of Madrid
• Plymouth, England and San Sebastián, Basque Country
• Sherborne, England and Altea, Valencian Community
• Stafford, England and Tarragona, Catalonia
• Totnes, England and Santa Fe, Andalusia

Economic relations

Following Brexit, Trade between the United Kingdom and Spain is governed by the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement since 1 January 2021.^[44][45]

Diplomatic missions

The Embassy of Spain is located in London. Spain also has consulates general in Edinburgh and Manchester.

The Embassy of the United Kingdom is located in Madrid. The United Kingdom also has a consulate general in Barcelona and consulates in Alicante, Ibiza, Las Palmas, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

• 
  Embassy of Spain in London
• 
  Embassy of the United Kingdom in Madrid

See also

• Foreign relations of Spain
• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
• List of ambassadors of Spain to the United Kingdom
• Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Spain
• United Kingdom–European Union relations
• Spanish in the United Kingdom
• British in Spain