The Mayor of Algeciras calls for a report on the Gibraltar agreement in the face of absolute secrecy

In a recent interview with Atalayar, the Mayor of Algeciras and senator of the Partido Popular for the province of Cadiz, José Ignacio Landaluce Calleja, expressed his surprise at the statements made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares Bueno, in the Lower House, that the negotiations, in the proposal sent to the United Kingdom by Spain and the European Union to convert the Campo de Gibraltar into a "shared prosperity area", will continue over the coming weeks, "given that there has been significant progress, in terms of the general policy lines".

In the same vein, Albares has asked for support from the opposition, who initiated, at the time, the pacts on the well-being of the Campo de Gibraltar, under which a total of 300,000 Spaniards in the area will benefit. The agreement will allow the physical elimination of the fence, the free movement of people and goods and the joint use of the airport and port, without undermining Spanish sovereignty. 

For the head of the city council of Algeciras, Landaluce Calleja, "no data gives us the opportunity to contemplate the attitude of these large doses of optimism on the part of our government in negotiations, without knowing what they are based on. So much so that this member of parliament from the Popular Group has demanded, in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lower House, held on Monday 28 April, the report on the negotiations of the aforementioned agreement in view of the need to know what points are being dealt with and how they are being dealt with. To know before the media the content of the Campo de Gibraltar agreement, in short. To know what the agreement consists of and to issue criteria, assistance - he has even said - "if there were aspects that could be detrimental to us". "We don't know anything. Not even the Junta de Andalucía has been informed". 

Although, the person in charge of the Consistory of Algeciras understands that to keep the due caution in a negotiation is a usual and necessary practice, but the absolute ignorance has qualified it as "strange". 

In the list of vicissitudes that may occur, Landaluce Calleja has mentioned the issues of the port and airport, environmental and fiscal aspects, taxes, dumping, tobacco, smuggling, the extension of Spanish waters around the colony of Gibraltar, the legitimate aspiration of shared sovereignty, the responsibility as a nation before the entry into Schengen territory, without forgetting how the issue of pensions will be managed, and workers' salaries with legitimate coverage. 

"We want good neighbourliness and a good agreement, but for both sides. But for both sides. Do we have the capacity to undo the decision making, if in the long run it is detrimental to us?"  This is the question Landaluce asks himself.

This being the case, and according to the testimony of the mayor of the city of Algeciras, the problem is that the Campo de Gibraltar does not trust the government of the Spanish President of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez.

Apparently, five years ago, the Campo de Gibraltar Plan was approved in the Council of Ministers, with an economic contribution of 1,000 million euros of investment, a cross-cutting plan that included eight ministries, to contribute to the economic and educational development of the area and, according to Landaluce, nothing has been fulfilled. "It is a land that has always been forgotten. Ask the Spanish state security forces. If it were not for this enclave, of geostrategic importance, we would still be wearing espadrilles made of esparto grass," laments the mayor of Algeciras. "How are you going to negotiate behind my back, no matter how much you live in Madrid and travel to Brussels? Do you know the reality and the real needs of my land?", concludes Landaluce's interview with this correspondent.

For his part, the mayor of San Roque, PSOE deputy, Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix, also told this journalist that he is very optimistic about the immediate conclusion of a firm agreement, before the European elections and those in the United Kingdom. 

It remains for the EU civil servants to take note of the nuances and appreciations made during these four years of negotiations. After the New Year's Eve agreement (2020) and the collaboration of Albares since 2021, this MP says that he is trying hard to ensure that the wording does not alter the fine print, once it has been passed on to the parties. As a member of the Congress of Deputies, Ruiz Boix has had the opportunity to mediate in several hearings and has observed that, on issues affecting the Gibraltar Agreement, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Albares, has repeatedly asked the other political groups to give their opinion, "they have a lack of information and remain silent". 

In a negotiation like this, the head of the San Roque Council wanted to reassure and announce that progress is positive in all respects. Both Gibraltar and the Kingdom of Spain are working on all possible contingencies and scenarios, in the knowledge that they will mean a before and after. Positive synergies to which we will have to adapt in a new reality.

Carmen Chamorro, Director of the CIP/ACPE and graduate in International Relations and Global Terrorism from the SEI.