Gibraltar sees HUGE boost in tourism after Brexit tug-of-war
Getty The sunny destination is caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between England and Spain
The sunny destination is caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between Britain and Spain after Spain declared that it would like to take back control of the UK territory. But after Spain made a power-grab move in Brexit negotiation papers, The Rock, which has already made it known it wants to stay British, has seen a boom in visitors. Dr Joseph Garcia, the country’s Brexit minister, told The Daily Star: “We have enjoyed a huge amount of publicity following the news Spain will shamefully seek to take advantage of Brexit in order to advance its political position over us.
“It has had a very useful spin-off in creating awareness of Gibraltar and how much we have to offer as a business and tourism destination.” Spain has been accused of a land grab for Gibraltar after the European Council said Spain will be given an effective veto on whether Brexit applies to the nation. Spain has long attempted to gain sovereignty of the British outpost, on its southern tip, but it has been a part of the UK since 1713.
Getty Dr Joseph Garcia said hotels and airlines expect to do very well in the months and weeks to come
Dr Garcia slammed this move as being “shameful” and accused the EU of meddling in its affairs. According to the EU, the Brexit deal will not be automatically given to The Rock without an agreement between Spain and the UK. Spain’s growing power over Gibraltar has angered the British Government who were not expecting to have to wrangle over it post Brexit. Tory Lord Michael Howard even suggested recently that Prime Minister Theresa May may go to war over the Rock.
Getty Theresa May said that Britain wold never give up Gibraltar “against their wishes”
The Prime Minister waded into the debate on Thursday and said that Britain wold never give up Gibraltar “against their wishes.” Dr Garcia added that all of the attention has been positive for Gibraltar who are seeing more visitors. He added: “It is clear from informal soundings that hotels and airlines expect to do very well in the months and weeks to come.”