Markedly different references to Gibraltar in election manifestos for PSOE and Vox

Spain’s socialist party has promised to continue to work towards a Gibraltar treaty that creates an area of shared prosperity. In its election manifesto, the PSOE party led by Pedro Sanchez says this would have to respect Spain’s position on sovereignty.

<< Seguiremos abogando por alcanzar un acuerdo en relación a Gibraltar que cree una zona de prosperidad compartida para Gibraltar y Campo de Gibraltar, respetando la posición jurídica de España con respecto a su soberanía. >>

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Who will win Spain's general election later this month?

The Spanish general election will be held on Sunday 23rd of July.

The conservative leader of the Partido Popular is the frontrunner to be the next leader of Spain. Alberto Núñez Feijóo is ahead of the Socialist incumbent Pedro Sánchez in the polls.

Polls give the Partido Popular a clear lead, but they also suggest the PP would fall short of an absolute majority in parliament and could only govern with the support of the hard-right Vox party.

Feijóo has consistently said he does not want to form a coalition with Vox. Yet the two parties have struck coalition deals at the local and regional level since elections in May.

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The Partido Popular would pay special attention to the free movement of people at Gibraltar's frontier

Spain's conservative party was the first to launch its election manifesto. We've already reported on it previously but we are including a summary here for ease of reference. For the PP, Gibraltar continues to be the "historic contentious one" which is necessary to deal with in an integral way that takes into account all the elements and circumstances.

<< Gibraltar sigue siendo un histórico contencioso que es necesario abordar de un modo integral teniendo en cuenta todos los elementos y circunstancias. >>

That’s a general point under their section ‘recovering Spain’s protagonism on the world stage’.

Then point 332 says: 

<< REANUDAREMOS UN DIÁLOGO RESPONSABLE CON EL GOBIERNO BRITÁNICO para abordar el proceso de descolonización de Gibraltar y la recuperación de la soberanía, conforme a la doctrina establecida por Naciones Unidas. Abordaremos la situación surgida tras el Brexit, defendiendo los intereses españoles en materia fiscal, financiera, medioambiental y de seguridad, y prestaremos especial atención a la circulación de personas.>>

The PP says it would resume responsible talks with the British Government to deal with Gibraltar’s decolonisation process and also to recover sovereignty, in keeping with the United Nations doctrine.

The conservative party says it would tackle the situation arising because of Brexit, defending Spanish interests in respect of tax, financial services, the environment and security. And the party led by Alberto Feijóo says it would pay special attention to the free movement of people at the Gibraltar frontier.

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Vox has the most references to Gibraltar

In its manifesto, far-right party Vox talks about organised crime in GIbraltar and applying international pressure to recover the Rock.

<< Desmantelaremos las redes de piratería, narcotráfico, con -
trabando y blanqueo de capitales que se extienden desde
Gibraltar y aplicaremos toda la presión internacional necesa-
ria para recuperar ese territorio ocupado. >>

Vox says the Campo de Gibraltar is vulnerable and it would give businesses there incentives. 

<< Dotaremos de incentivos (fiscales, laborales, etc.) a las em-
presas radicadas en zonas especialmente poco pobladas de
la geografía nacional o con especial vulnerabilidad, como el
Campo de Gibraltar. >>

The far-right party led by Santiago Abascal talks about Gibraltar being a tax haven and how they would get the European Union to agree a plan for the Rock to be "returned" to Spain.

<< Rechazaremos cualquier acuerdo Unión Europea-Reino
Unido o España-Reino Unido que no pase por respetar los
derechos soberanos de España sobre la colonia británica
de Gibraltar. Exigiremos a la Unión Europea un firme com -
promiso con la legítima aspiración española de recuperar Gi-
braltar. Es inaceptable que exista un paraíso fiscal en suelo
soberano español. >>

It reiterates this plan in a section highlighting some key EU policies.

<< Proposición no de Ley por la que se insta al Gobierno a que
inicie un proceso de negociación bilateral con el Reino Uni-
do al objeto de recuperar la soberanía española sobre el
Peñón de Gibraltar (enero 2021). >>

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