Gibraltar Sees Red Over Spanish Teams Victory Chant
The Spanish football team celebrations in Madrid following their victory over England in the European Cup final have been mired in controversy after their captain Alvaro Morata’s chant of “Gibraltar es Espanol” – “Gibraltar is Spanish” – which was repeated continually by star player, Rodri, who plays for English club Manchester City.
The chants in front of hundreds of thousands of jubilant Spaniards in Cibeles, have not gone down well in the British Crown Colony of of Gibraltar whose autonomous government expressed dismay at such “discriminatory political statements that are hugely offensive to Gibraltarians”. Using the celebrations “for advancing the idea of usurping the territory of Gibraltar is contrary to the principle that sport should not be used to advance any politically controversial ideology,” it said in a statement.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo took to X to express a more full-throated opinion, describing the chants as “worse than disgusting”. “It sullies the sport of football and the win on the pitch.. This cannot stand unchallenged. The Rock is OURS,” he said, using Gibraltar’s nickname for its famous cliff-faced mountain.
The Gibraltar Football Association also slammed the chanting as “extremely provocative and insulting” and said it would file an official complaint with the European footballing body UEFA. “Football has no place for behaviour of his nature,” it said in a statement. Gibraltar has long been a source of tension between Madrid and London.
Although Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in 1713, Madrid has long coveted its return in a long-running bone of contention that has for decades involved pressure on the frontier. Tensions peaked in 1969 when the regime of dictator Francisco Franco closed the border, which did not fully reopen until 1985.
The British, Spanish and Gibraltar governments are presently in high stakes negotiation over the continuation of an open border following the UK’ s decision to leave the European Union.
There are an estimated 30,000 Gibraltar residents and some 10,000 Spaniards who cross the border each day for work.
No comment so far from either Manchester City or the British Embassy in Madrid but meantime the British Fleet stands guard over Gibraltar.
