Spain lost out on its chance to host the 2020 Olympics due to its stance over Gibraltar, according to a senior British politician.
Sir Graham Watson, the MEP for South West England and Gibraltar, said that when diplomatic tensions began spiralling between Spain and the UK, David Cameron threatened to block Madrid’s bid if Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy did not reduce its hard line stance.
“I am told Mr Cameron actually said to the Spanish Prime Minister, ‘if you carry on with these border queues we will make sure you don’t get the Olympic Games,’” Sir Graham said during a debate televised debate in Gibraltar ahead of the EU elections.
“And I believe that is what happened,” he added.
Sir Graham claims that in addition to contacting Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, to lodge a formal complaint at Spain’s actions at the border, Mr Cameron also sought other ways to pressurise Spain.
“He also drew up a list of things we could do to say to Spain ‘this is not right’ and as a result Madrid will not host the Olympic Games, it will go to Tokyo as a result of UK action. We need far more things like that on the list.”
Madrid was among the three final cities being considered for the games, along with Tokyo and Istanbul. In the event, the September vote favoured Toyko.
A spokesman for the British Government said: “As has always been the practice, the UK government did not favour any of the three finalists over others, and there was absolutely no UK attempt to influence any of the bids.”
‘Sir Graham Watson was speaking as an MEP, not as a member of Her Majesty’s Government,” the spokesman added.
