UK Not Willing To Cede Control Over Gibraltar Airport To Spain - Prime Minister

The United Kingdom does not intend to let Spain take control over the Gibraltar International Airport despite Madrid's demands, The Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday citing UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th June, 2023) The United Kingdom does not intend to let Spain take control over the Gibraltar International Airport despite Madrid's demands, The Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday citing UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman.

"We remain a steadfast supporter of Gibraltar and we are not going to do anything to compromise sovereignty (of the UK over Gibraltar)," the news outlet quoted him as saying.

The spokesman added that ceding control of the airport to Spain would be "one such example" of actions that could threaten UK's sovereignty over the territory.

The newspaper reported that Spain requested to let it assume control over the airport, which is located on the base of the British air force and owned by the UK Defense Ministry, during the talks about the status of Gibraltar after Brexit.�The talks were eventually suspended, The Sun reported.�

London and Madrid struck a temporary agreement after the UK left the EU, subject to which workers and tourists can cross the border between the two regions without major problems, the report said.

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�Gibraltar has been a stumbling block in relations between Spain and the UK for three centuries. Following the War of the Spanish Succession of 1701-1714, Gibraltar was ceded to the UK. Since then, the British have controlled the rocky section of the Iberian Peninsula's southern coast with an area of 6.5 square kilometers (2.3 square miles) and a population of 30,000 people.

Spain continues to claim Gibraltar as its own, but during the referendums that took place in 1967 and 2002, more than 90% of Gibraltarians voted to remain part of the UK. The territory has a constitution adopted by referendum in 2006, according to which legislative power was vested in UK Queen Elizabeth II and the Gibraltar's parliament.