Gibraltar, Spain
3rd April 2023
Ah, Gibraltar, the security guard of the Mediterranean. The place from which Spain had been in charge of controlling who enters the Mediterranean Sea, under which conditions and how much tax they had to pay unless the crew wanted to turn around and fail to deliver whatever they were carrying to Mediterranean nations. The place all Mediterranean nations respected for its relevance, as well as for the job the Kingdom of Spain did to protect the Mediterranean from any unwanted guest, including military ships that could threat estability in such a peaceful area. With the Union of the Mediterranean more dead than alive, but yet to be relaunched, Spain was standing alone, once again, against the pirates in Europolis that wanted to force freedom where they would only find tolls.
Jesús Aguilar, the President of the Spanish Government, had arrived in Gibraltar one day earlier, on April 2nd. That day, the 'Papacito' met with the President of the Autonomous City, the Partido Socialista member Fabián Picardo, with whom he discussed the latest updates on the Gibraltar Strait Security Agency. Both leaders were also joined by Albert Isola, the Head of the GSSA, the independent body whose decisions were taken by the Gibraltarean Assembly, where the PSOE had a majority. But when the summit ended, he wanted Isola and Picardo to know that Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, would be welcomed to the 'city of the rock' the day after, and that they would be invited to show up to the summit if the conversation required their presence.
The relevant day arrived, and everything was set in the small Mediterranean town, with over 30,000 inhabitants. The airport surroundings were filled of people, that awaited for the British Government airplane to land on the famous runway, that was crossed by bikers and pedestrians every day, while cars used the recently-opened tunnel under the runway on the western side of the city. The warning alarms rang, which told people to clear the runway. Soon enough, Starmer and the British delegation would be touching ground in Gibraltar...
As Starmer thought really calmly and after he had all the facts, the situation was far too nuanced to draw an opinion. So, he figured he would accept the public, egg on face moment. Flying to Gibraltar was fairly tranquil...he valued the job of prime minister. His plane landed at Gibraltar. The weather was pleasant at this time of year.
When the plane came to a stop in front of Gibraltar's airport terminal, a motorcade entered the airport's platform and approached the British Government plane. There, a Spanish diplomat welcomed the British delegation, that was led into the motorcade to make their way to the cable car station. The journey towards that place did not last long, and soon the British Prime Minister found himself waiting for the next cable car to arrive in order to ride it to the top of the rock, where the summit would take place.
When the cable car arrived, Starmer and some other members of the British delegation entered the 'vehicle', that took them to the cafeteria where President Aguilar was waiting. During its climb, riding the cable car offered passengers stunning views of the Rock and its surroundings, including the neighbouring city of La Línea de la Concepción, the Bay of Algeciras and the Strait itself. Suddenly, the cable car stopped and its doors opened, with a voice announcing it was the end of the journey.
Just across the door stood the Spanish President, who shook hands with his British counterpart while smiling: "Mr. Starmer, welcome to the Kingdom of Spain and welcome to Gibraltar. It is nice to see you", he said while walking towards the viewpoint, where a Spanish, British and European flag had been put in order to have the press take some photos of both leaders with Gibraltar and its surroundings on the back. Then, both leaders entered the cafeteria, where everything was ready for the summit: "I asked my team if the summit could take place somewhere with stunning views, and they managed to get this cafeteria that did not even doubt when asked about closing for a day to hold the summit. I hope that you are enjoying the views and the weather", Aguilar said, just before the leaders took a seat.
Starmer: It's great to be here. I will say up front that people who have tried to sway me on the Meditteranean issue...they never gave me all viewpoints since I was not prime minister at the time. Based on that, I apologise on behalf of the United Kingdom.
Aguilar smiled when he heard the word 'apologise' come out from the British Prime Minister's mouth. It was not a devious or evil smile, but rather one that expressed happiness: his diplomatic team and his Government had finally been able to send the exact message they wanted about the Strait of Gibraltar to a nation that had been tricked by Spain's southern neighbour and their wild mates. Jesús then spoke:
"Mr. Starmer, I am glad to hear that you have changed your views and completely understood what really goes on here, in the Strait of Gibraltar and the city that takes the same name. My Government and I have tried for long to send the very same message we sent to you to the rest of Europe, but we still have some misleaders on this region, that coincidentally end up being allied: first off was Reitzmag, and nowadays their role has been taken over by Yosai and the United Duchies, two nations that introduce to the world as 'necessary and peaceful', but that have a 'dark side'. Luckily for Europe, good nations prevail over this kind of nations".
Aguilar then took some papers out of his briefcase, and gave a copy to the British delegation:
"On prior diplomatic talks that ended up on this summit, our Foreign Affairs Ministers spoke about the possibility of the United Kingdom entrance into the 'Operación Columnas de Hércules', that since its beginning has been carried out by the Spanish Armada with two purposes: guaranteeing the protection of the Spanish territorial waters in the Strait of Gibraltar and enforcing the tax system that is currently established in the area. Has your Cabinet discussed the matter, Mr. Starmer? Will the UK join said operation in exchange of a naval base here, in Gibraltar?".
Starmer: Certainly. In keeping with the ancient theme, code for us can be Hector. Yes, I know that's Roman and Hercules is Greek but Hector got passed down from Latin to Spanish. I know if you talk to British leadership they get that.
"Hector sounds like a great codename for our British counterparts in the Operation", said Jesús Aguilar, who smiled. "Now that we have dealt with the most important topic that we had in our agenda today, is there something the United Kingdom wants to put over the table? If not, we could speak about tourism", the Spanish President added.
Starmer thought for a while.
Starmer: My predecessor Theresa May covered just about everything. Thanks to her, I don't think there is much. Come to London if anything comes up.
"Then I guess this brings the summit meeting to an end! It has been a pleasure, Mr. Starmer", Aguilar said, shaking hands with his British counterpart just before both signed the agreement they had reached on that summit.
Another international visit was over as soon as the British delegation left 'the Rock', and the Spanish President had one thing for sure: a new era began for Spain and Gibraltar.
Starmer: Certainly. In keeping with the ancient theme, code for us can be Hector. Yes, I know that's Roman and Hercules is Greek but Hector got passed down from Latin to Spanish. I know if you talk to British leadership they get that.
The Kingdom of Spain