Similarities

Quote from a news article about Gibraltar:

Spain also said it was considering taking the dispute to the UN Security Council, where it could seek the support of Argentina.

A Spanish government spokesman told the BBC that although the Falkland Islands - over which Britain went to war with Argentina - and Gibraltar were different issues, there were similarities between the two disputes.

The similarity, of course, is that the populations in both territories overwhelmingly prefer the status quo, and have repeatedly voted to that fact.  Self-determination; what's that?

The Falkland Islands

I was not even two years old when Argentina, then under a military dictatorship, invaded the Falkland Islands.  Today has marked the 30th anniversary of the end of that brief conflict, which ended with the  islands remaining under British rule.  As such, I have no understanding of how things were at the time even in the UK, or controversies such as the sinking of the Belgrano.

The anniversary has seen tensions between Britain and Argentina rise.  It's sad to me, but also somewhat annoying.  Today, the Argentinian president has demanded that Britain enter negotiations over the island's sovereignity: