Gibraltar could stay in the EU if Spain takes over its foreign affairs, say Spanish

- but add that Gibraltar is going to be better off outside the EU than inside

Even the ex Spanish foreign minister Margallo, who has never been too kind to Gibraltar, is getting confused about the future of Gibraltar, on the one hand saying that if Spain took over Gibraltar's foreign affairs, the Rock could remain in the European Union, but then adding that Gibraltar is going to be better off outside the EU than inside.

However, the political and economic cost to Spain in trying to make inroads into British Gibraltar could have been exhorbitant. Spain would have to agree to Gibraltar's extensive self-government, and given that in a form of joint sovereignty over foreign affairs and defence, the Gibraltarians desire to remain British would not have been impeded. And furthermore, Spanish would have to invest heavily in the Campo area.

And do you know why? The former minister draws attention to the fact that Gibraltar is six times richer than the Campo, or put another way the Campo is six times poorer than Gibraltar, which enjoys the third highest per capita income in the world. For a small territory with a population of just 34,000, Gibraltar has one business for every two inhabitants - at least! - and an average per capital income of 64,000 dollars.

And in another observation, the next day, Margallo admitted that Gibraltar is going to be better off outside the European Union than inside!

Of course, he blames the current Spanish Government for not having taken advantage of what he sees as the golden opportunity that presented itself with the Brexit development.

Having struck a deal with Spain on financial matters, Gibraltar will cease to be a fiscal paradise - and what it has given in return it would have had to contemplate within the withdrawal terms anyway, says Margallo.

09-07-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR