‘EU will mediate in Gibraltar’

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso dispute with the UK over ownership of the territory.

Spain has upper border checks of people travelling between Gibraltar and Spain since the start of the row in July and has threatened to introduce a €50 toll for crossing the frontier, although Brussels has ruled this illegal.

In Rajoy’s telephone call with Barroso, the premier urged the EU crackdown on money laundering and smuggling in The Rock. La Vanguardia adds –

For Spain, the important issue is that the mission researches and stops smuggling and, most of all, that the EU controls money laundering in Gibraltar.