Reading this morning about Spanish travails in Cueta, which I had thought little more than a lump of rock off the North African coast, my first thought was why do we Europeans hang on to these relics of imperialism? Why not just give them back to their rightful owners and have done with. Tidy the world up a bit. Remove these running sores.
But moved to check, I find that the place is not an island at all, rather a Spanish version of Gibraltar perched on the coast of Morocco, once in the Carthaginian sphere of influence. About 20 square kilometres, something less than 100,000 people, all very mixed up. So just giving it back to Morocco, while possible, is not going to happen any time soon. Any more than we are going to give Gibraltar back to Spain (pot calling the kettle black?) or the Malvinas (aka the Falkland Islands) back to Argentina. Although we did give Hong Kong back to what is now the regional superpower - so a special case.
My own personal solution, Hong Kong notwithstanding, is to agree some deals with rightful owners, acknowledging their sovereignty but deferring access for 50 or more years, time enough for the present inhabitants to come to terms with the change, possibly by moving underground. And offering generous terms to any who want to leave in the meantime. Remembering here that a million pounds a head resettlement bonus to Falkland Islanders would have saved us lots of money.
PS: I have only just thought that Argentina sounds as if it is all mixed up with silver. A thought confirmed by Wikipedia, which also tells me that the River Plate is as well. Plate as in silver plate, as it were.
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