Spanish footballers celebrating their Euro 2024 final win over England have sparked outrage after claiming Gibraltar is rightfully Spain's.
Leading crowd chants during a victory party in Madrid, Manchester City midfielder Rodri riled up a crowd of thousands with the phrase "Gibraltar is Spanish".
Team captain Alvaro Morata had interjected to remind the Euros' player of the tournament that he played in England, to which Rodri replied: "I couldn't care less."
But then, Morata himself took over the goading, saying: "Just a little pause to remind you of something... I was given a hard time there - It is Spanish, Gibraltar is Spanish!"
Alvaro Morata (left) and Rodri (right) made the irredentist claims after their win
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Thousands of fans celebrated Spain's victory in Madrid
Reuters
The claims provoked fury from Gibraltar's Football Association, which announced it was looking into filing an official complaint over the chants, while the overseas territory's government blasted the players for "advancing the idea of usurping the territory of Gibraltar".
A Gibraltar FA statement read: "The Gibraltar FA has noted the extremely provocative and insulting nature of the celebrations around the Spanish Men's national team winning Euro 2024.
"The Association is this morning taking advice on the filing of a complaint to European Football's governing body, Uefa, in relation to the unacceptable chanting and songs, relating to Gibraltar, sung by Spain's Men's National Team players after winning Euro 2024.
"Football has no place for behaviour of this nature."
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Rodri, seen here shaking hands with Spain's King Felipe VI after winning the Euros
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Spain captain Alvaro Morata holds the Henri Delaunay Cup aloft in Madrid
Reuters
The outcry over Rodri's comments extended beyond football; a scathing Government of Gibraltar statement in the aftermath of the incident condemned the remarks as "totally unnecessary".
It said: "His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar is disappointed to note that several players of the Spanish male national football team celebrated their European Cup win with chants of rancid remarks about Gibraltar.
"This is a totally unnecessary mixing of a great sporting success with discriminatory political statements that are hugely offensive to Gibraltarians.
"The lamentable use of the platform of celebrations around winning the Eurocup 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."
Mixing a sporting victory and the chant that glorifies the dictatorial politics of a mass murderer like Franco and his fascist regime's attempt to usurp a neighbouring territory, that is also a UEFA nation, is worse than disgusting. It sullies the sport of football and the win… pic.twitter.com/xrnFCqWZ26
— Fabian Picardo (@FabianPicardo) July 16, 2024
Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo also condemned the chants, which he said "glorifies the dictatorial politics of a mass murderer like Franco and his fascist regime's attempt to usurp a neighbouring territory".
A Gibraltarian government source was firm on the issue of having "no Spanish boots on the rock"
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The furore comes as post-Brexit negotiations between the UK and Spain, which have been rumbling on for years, look to be nearing an end.
Speaking to GB News, a Gibraltar government source insisted that an agreement was close, despite a few key issues left to be "ironed out", but remained firm on the issue of having "no Spanish boots on the rock" and no Spanish control over Gibraltar's waters.
But Madrid has previously said its own police and EU officials would be required to man the territory's border posts - seen by insiders as an unacceptable, "Franco-era" demand.
And concerns were also raised over the status of some 15,000 Spanish jobs in Gibraltar if a deal cannot be reached; a hard border would not be in Spain's interest, the source argued, echoing previous Gibraltarian comments that only the Andalusian regional government employs more people in Andalusia.
While Gibraltar has been British territory since the 18th Century, Spain has long claimed the peninsula is rightfully its own.
But Spain also faces territorial questions over its own contested exclaves at the mouth of the Mediterranean: Ceuta and Melilla, two "autonomous cities" also claimed by Morocco.