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  • In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, in a controversial

  • referendum known asBrexit’.

  • The decision forced Britain to revisit many of its diplomatic relationships, particularly

  • with nearby Spain.

  • The two countries share a long, tumultuous history that has culminated in outstanding

  • tension and unresolved disputes.

  • So, why are relations between Spain and the UK so complicated?

  • Well, the rivalry spans hundreds of years, before Spain was even a country, and before

  • England had absorbed Scotland and Ireland to become the UK.

  • Early on, the two butted heads over Portugal’s independence - once in the late 14th century,

  • when England helped the Portuguese army thwart an invasion from modern-day Spain, and again

  • 200 years later, during the Anglo-Spanish War.

  • Throughout the next two centuries, England and Spain fought against each other in countless

  • battles in a number of wars.

  • In fact, the two countries didn’t officially become allies until 1834.

  • Today, much of Spain and the UK’s lasting hostility is centered around Gibraltar: a

  • tiny, 2-and-a-half-square-mile slice of land off the southern tip of Spain.

  • Gibraltar, also calledThe Rockis one of the UK’s last colonies.

  • It has been under their sovereignty since Spain surrendered the territory in 1713.

  • Spain has long since lobbied for its return, in part because it is physically attached

  • to the country, but also because it symbolizes a weak point in Spanish history.

  • Gibraltar has twice held referendums, and in both, voters overwhelmingly rejected Spanish

  • rule.

  • Although most of the territory’s roughly 30 thousand residents are of Spanish or Portuguese

  • descent, they are officially, and culturally, British.

  • Gibraltar has led to a number of flare-ups between Spain and the UK . In 2013, Spain’s

  • Navy arbitrarily patrolled Gibraltar’s waters despite Britain’s protests.

  • Tensions mounted again just months later, when Gibraltar built an artificial concrete

  • reef in its disputed waters with Spain, obstructing Spanish fishermen.

  • Spain retaliated by tightening border controls, and threatening to fine anyone trying to enter

  • from Gibraltar.

  • Spain and the UK were again forced to revisit their conflicting claims to Gibraltar in June

  • 2016, when the UK voted to leave the European Union.

  • About 96 percent of Gibraltarians voted to stay in the bloc, as the territory relies

  • heavily on the EU for trade.

  • Once the Brexit vote came through, Spain used the opportunity to propose joint UK-Spanish

  • sovereignty of Gibraltar.

  • Gibraltar’s government, however, has insisted that such a proposal would never go through,

  • and is currently in negotiations to remain within the EU.

  •  

  • But despite this and other minor conflicts, relations between Spain and the UK are largely

  • positive.

  • Both are members of NATO and OECD, and both are parliamentary monarchies with many of

  • the same laws.

  • However pending the rollout of Brexit and the uncertain future of Gibraltar, we may

  • see their fragile relationship tested once again.

In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, in a controversial

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西班牙和英國的複雜關係 (Spain And The UK's Complicated Relationship)

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    BH 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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