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Spain and Argentina join forces to needle UK

gibraltarThe Spanish town of Algeciras and Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, in Argentina have twinned in order to protest British control of Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands.

Algeciras is a port across the bay from Gibraltar while Rio Grande is the city from which Argentine military invaded the Falklands.

The initiative is part of an Argentine-led campaign of needling and harassment over the Falklands. Spain has been indulging in the same pursuits over Gibraltar, despite it have been ceded to Britain "in perpetuity" under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

Cristina Kirchner, the president of Argentina, has pledged an "eternal fight" for the Falklands and sought the support of Spanish-speaking countries as part of a diplomatic campaign to regain control of the Falkland Islands.

April 2nd was the 32nd anniversary of the day Argentina invaded.

Jose Ignacio Landaluce, the controversial mayor of Algeciras, is also the vice chair of Spain's parliamentary foreign affairs committee. This did not prevent him from being criticised by political opponents for arranging the twinning in secret and without consulting the town council.

The arrangement sounds like it could be the start of something larger.

"This historic agreement between Algeciras and Rio Grande is the starting point of a much more ambitious project to link all those cities whose autonomy is compromised by some kind of foreign intervention," said a spokesperson from the Rio Grande council.

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