Palma talks “extremely important” for Gibraltar

By Humphrey Carter GOVERNMENT of Gibraltar sources told the Bulletin yesterday that next week's round of trilateral talks in Majorca are “extremely important.” Spain and Britain are to meet the Rock's Chief Minister, Peter Caruana in Palma on Monday and Tuesday as part of the on-going trilateral negotiations to draw up a new constitution for Gibraltar. Sources at the Chief Minister's office in Gibraltar said yesterday that these current talks are “extremely important because it is the first time that Gibraltar has been invited to take part in discussions about the future by the Spanish government and it is the Spanish who are hosting next week's talks in Palma.” The source also denied that the talks are behind schedule. “No, that's no true. Negotiations are on track and will obviously be taken a step further in Palma,” the Bulletin was told. Attending the talks with Chief Minister Caruana will be Spain's director general for European and North American foreign policy, José Pons, and his British counterpart Dominick Chilcott. The trilateral negotiations started a year ago and are expected to soon produce a final document which the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Spain's Miguel Ángel Moratinos will officially approve. Topping the agenda in Palma will be the future of the airport and greater Spanish access, pensions for former Spanish workers on the Rock, the border controls and improved telecommunications. However, it is understood that the airport issue is proving to be a sticking point. But, Gibraltar sources were yesterday upbeat that a satisfactory solution can, and will, be found. Peter Caruana will today address the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool, boosted by Tory party leadership candidate David Cameron's proclamation yesterday that he will “stand up for Gibraltar.” His comments were welcomed in Gibraltar, unlike those made by Jack Straw at last week's Labour Party Conference. When questioned by Labour Party delegates from Gibraltar about the Rock's future and his government's intentions, Straw was apparently unable to provide any categorical assurances on the UK's current position in the negotiations on the new Constitution. Last week Caruana held a meeting with José Pons and some claim that, in order to force the Labour government's hand and make Westminster take the Gibraltar issue more seriously, Caruana and Pons may be looking to strike a deal to present the British with between them. Caruana will today be the main guest of Sunrise on Sky and, after addressing the Conservative Conference, will be flying on to New York to make a speech at the United Nations.